SEASIDE, Calif.—The Cal State Monterey Bay women's basketball team heads north for a pair of games it needs to win to heat up the race for a CCAA Tournament bid. The Otters will play at Chico State Thursday (Feb. 1) for their only regular season meeting with the Wildcats this season. Saturday (Feb. 3), they'll head to the north coast to face Humboldt State in Arcata.

Both games will tip-off at 5:30 p.m. as the openers of men's/women's doubleheader action.

Fans who can't make it to the games can follow all of the action online. Rob Ponce will call the audio for both games on OtterAthletics.com. Both Chico and Humboldt will provide live stats and video. All of the links can before found on the OtterAthletics.com schedule page.
 

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WILDCAT 3–DOT NOTES (10–9, 8–7 CCAA): After a strong run in which they won five of six games from December through early January, sledding has become a bit tougher for the Wildcats, who have lost three in a row and four of six over three weeks…are 8–1 in Acker Gym this season with the only loss coming versus Humboldt State (69–60) on Jan. 20…Whitney Branham (Sr./G) leads the Wildcats and ranks No. 2 in the CCAA scoring race at 18.3 ppg…Madison Wong (So./G) ranks No. 3 on the CCAA assist chart at 5.2 apg.

LUMBERJACK 3–DOT NOTES (11–9, 10–5 CCAA): After getting off to a less than tepid 1–5 start in preconference action, the Lumberjacks have come on in CCAA play…they enter the week having won three of their last four…will host East Bay on Thursday night before meeting the Otters…Tyla Turner (So./G) tops the Humboldt scoring ledger and ranks No. 3 in the CCAA averaging 17.2 ppg…she also ranks No. 3 in the CCAA in steals (2.5 spg)

WHEN LAST WE MET CHICO: The Otters pulled to within two points late, but Madison Wong made a pair of free throws with 11 seconds remaining to seal a 55–51 Wildcat win On Feb. 25, 2017 in The Kelp Bed. McKenna Hill scored 25 points in her final collegiate game to lead all scorers. Whitney Branham and Sherise Porchia scored 10 points apiece for Chico.

WHEN LAST WE MET HUMBOLDT: A tough start gave way to an even tougher finish as the Otters never managed to find their footing in a 64–40 loss to visiting Humboldt State on Nov. 30. CSUMB scored just 16 points in the first half and just 24 through three quarters. Emily Hardin led the Otters with 11 points. Tyla Turner had 20 for the Lumberjacks.

ENDING THE STREAK: Last week's 50–49 win ended an 8–game skid versus Cal Poly Pomona in the series. It was CSUMB's first win over the Broncos since a 73–59 victory in the opening game of the CCAA Tournament on Mar. 5, 2013.

KEATON'S REBOUND STREAK ENDS: Courtney Keaton saw her streak of double–digit rebounding games end at three Saturday vs. Pomona when she finished with a game–high nine. Nevertheless, she led the team in rebounding for the 18th time in 21 games this season.

A HELPING HAND…OR 161 HANDS: With four assists Saturday versus Pomona, Aubri Smith claimed the No. 7 spot in Otter career assists with 161. She passed Stephanie Sack (159 from 2014–15). for No. 7 all–time. Next up is current Gonzaga Head Coach Lisa Mispley (2003–04), who had 168 helpers as an Otter.

OTTERS AMONG THE CCAA LEADERS: Aubri Smith's 12.6 ppg ranks her No. 12 on the CCAA scoring chart as we move into the final six games of the 2017–18 season. Other Otters amongst the leaders include: REBOUNDING: No. 5 Courtney Keaton (9.5 rpg); STEALS: No. 8 Courtney Keaton (1.8 spg), No. 12 Aubri Smith (1.6 spg); ASSISTS: No. 12 Aubri Smith (3.0 apg).

WHY PLAY 40 MINUTES? The final five minutes have been all but irrelevant. CSUMB is 12–0 when leading after 35 and 0–34 when trailing after 35 dating back to the 2015–16 season. FYI, the Otters and Pomona were tied with 5:00 left in Saturday night's CSUMB win.

THE ANSWER TO EVERYTHING: With apologies to Douglas Adams, the answer to everything isn't 42, it's 70. With Jan. 20's 73–47 win at San Francisco State, CSUMB is now 41–5 when scoring 70 or more points since the 2008–09 season. Up that number to 80 points and the numbers get even more impressive. The Otters have won 15 consecutive games when scoring at least 80 points dating back to the 2005–06 season.