'Cats open 2010-11 regular season at home this weekend in 38th annual Coslet Classic

CHICO – Now the ’Cats play for keeps. The Chico State women’s basketball team, following its Nov. 7 exhibition game against Saint Mary’s, officially lifts the lid on the 2010-11 regular season this Friday and Saturday, taking on Academy of Art and Hawaii Pacific as the Wildcats host the 38th annual Coslet Classic. Sonoma State will also be part of the two-day tournament at Acker Gym, as the ’Cats look to open the season on a winning note and begin the journey to reach the NCAA Championship Tournament for the eighth time in the last nine years. Chico State will play both nights at 7:30.

Head Coach Brian Fogel’s Wildcats return eight players – including three starters – from last season’s 23-10 team that advanced all the way to the NCAA West Region finals. Chico State is once again led by two-time All-California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) First Team guard Natasha Smith, who enters her senior year among the Wildcats’ career top 10 leaders in scoring, assists, free throws, steals and 3-point baskets. Smith is complemented by a bevy of talented teammates who should provide the ’Cats with consistent outside shooting, a swarming and tenacious defense, and tough, physical play underneath the bucket. Like last season, Chico State plans to run the floor constantly, using its collective quickness to create fast breaks and scoring opportunities in transition.


Courtney Harrison is one of the Wildcats' 3-point threats in 2009-10; last season she connected for 17 treys in her last seven games.
Synchro Bull, Katie Girten, Courtney Harrison and Molly Collins are back to join Smith in the Wildcats’ backcourt, with all four able to fill it up from the outside. Kristin Marquardt, Pauline Ferrall and Taylor Lydon are veterans on the 2009-10 squad who will be asked to anchor the ’Cats frontcourt fortunes.

Among the new Wildcats who Fogel expects to contribute in 2010-11 are guards Courtney Hamilton, Jazmine Miller and Jennifer Rene, and forwards McKenzie Dalthorp and Analise Riezebos.

Academy of Art, Chico State’s Friday night opponent, enters the Coslet Classic 0-1 on the season. The Urban Knights, a member of the Pacific West Conference, lost to Cal State L.A. 73-69 in overtime on Nov. 14. Senior forward Verity Peets, who scored 12 points and pulled down 11 rebounds against the Golden Eagles, is one of five returners from last season’s Academy of Art team that finished 10-17 overall and 6-10 in conference play. Other key Urban Knight players are senior forward Jessica Nolan (an All-Pac West Second Team selection who averaged 10.6 points and 8.6 rebounds a game in 2009-10), junior guard Lorraine Etchell (11.1 ppg, 21 3-pointers last season) and newcomers Devin London (a transfer from Lassen College who scored 18 points in the Nov. 14 loss to Cal State L.A.) and junior guard Nicole DeRosier (another JC transfer who has quickly established herself as Academy of Art’s main 3-point shooter).

Friday marks the first time that the Chico State and Academy of Art women’s basketball teams have gone head-to-head.

Hawaii Pacific, which takes on the Wildcats Saturday, has already played two games this season, beating Adams State 92-72 Nov. 13 before dropping a 71-49 decision to Cal State Monterey Bay this past Tuesday. The Sea Warriors enjoyed an extremely successful 2009-10 season, going 18-7 overall, winning the Pac West Conference and reaching the NCAA West Regional. Hawaii Pacific, led by 2009-10 Pac West Coach of the Year Jeff Harada, has just four players returning from last year’s squad, though three – including All-Pac West First Teamers Jazzmin Awa-Williams and Mana Hopkins-Vandenakker – are starters. Junior guard Paris Gravely is the Sea Warriors’ top 3-point threat (knocking down 30 treys last season), while freshman Skye Savani has posted double-figure performances in each of Hawaii Pacific’s two contests this season.

Saturday’s game will also mark the first time the Chico State women’s basketball team has faced Hawaii Pacific.

Sonoma State is the other team participating in the Coslet Classic, and will play the tournament’s two early games, taking on Hawaii Pacific Friday at 5:30 p.m. and Academy of Art Saturday at 5:30. They will be the Seawolves’ first regular season games of 2010-11 following exhibition losses to Division I University of San Francisco and Santa Clara. Sonoma State was 11-16 in 2009-10, and failed to reach postseason play despite finishing tied for seventh in the CCAA with a 9-13 conference mark. The Seawolves have seven returners from last season’s team; they are led by senior guard Oly Larkin (7.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg in 2009-10) and junior guard Jaclyn Bisordi (7.3 ppg, 25 3-pointers last season).

All four games of the Coslet Classic will be available on Live Stats on the Chico State Athletics website. The two Chico State contests will be broadcast live on ESPN 101.7 and 1340 AM locally and through the Wildcat Athletics website.