Box score, play-by-play
        PHOTO GALLERY

SEATTLE – A small difference in possessions made just enough of a difference on the scoreboard Saturday night.
 
Rachel Murray pumped a career-high 23 points, but a 12-0 second-half scoring run by Chico State proved too much for Seattle Pacific to overcome, as the Falcons fell short of the Wildcats in the final game of the GNAC-CCAA Challenge in Brougham Pavilion, 77-72.
 
SPU junior forward Murray (Eglington, New South Wales, Australia), easily topped her previous career high of 16, set on Nov. 12 in a 56-37 victory against San Francisco State in California.
                     
Sophomore forward Katie Benson added 20 points for SPU (6-3), the fourth time in the past six games that she has hit for 20 or more. Benson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) also pulled down nine rebounds.
 
Murray and Benson both were named to the all-tournament team.
 
Synchro Bull led Chico State (5-2) with 19 points, also collected seven rebounds and was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.
 
The Wildcats took just five more shots from the floor (61-56) than did Seattle Pacific – but put nine more of them through the hoop (30-21). Chico hit 49.2 percent for the game (30 of 61).
                                                                                                                             
The Falcons, after hitting 60 percent from the floor in an 83-65 victory against Sonoma State on Friday night, dropped to just 37.5 percent (21 of 56), and were at just 25 percent (7 of 28) after halftime.
 
“I have to say hats off to Chico – they took the opportunities that were given to them, and they made the most of it,” SPU head coach Julie heisey said. “Our team still has to understand that every possession counts. If we turn the ball over or don't score, we have to take pride in getting a defensive stop.”
 
Seattle Pacific built a 10-point lead late in the first half, 37-27. But the Wildcats closed the half on a 10-4 scoring run to get within 41-37 at the intermission.
 
Chico finally climbed into a tie at 45-45 early in the second half. It was 56-56 with 11:42 left when the Wildcats started their 12-point scoring spree to make it 68-56 with 9:04 to go.
 
The Falcons stormed back with a 14-2 run. They closed to 71-70 on a turnaround shot off the glass by Benson with 2:25 left, bringing to mind shades of last year's game against Chico when SPU won 57-56 on a buzzer-beater by Nyesha Sims.
 
But this time, the Wildcats got the next five points. SPU did not score again until Murray drained two free throws, making it 76-72, but with just 2.1 seconds remaining.
 
“Chico is a very, very talented team,” Heisey said. “They're fast, and Synchro (Bull) and Natasha (Smith) are game-changers on either end (of the court). They did what they had to do to win, and they wanted it.”
 
The Wildcats were especially effective from downtown, draining 9 of 20 (45 percent), while the Falcons struggled, hitting just 2 of 17 (11.8 percent). What's more, it was when Chico State hit those 3's: two straight to close the first half (cutting a 39-31 SPU lead to 41-37), and two more by Annie Ward during that 12-0 surge.
 
Chico had four players in double-figures. Along with Bull, Jazmine Miller had 12, Natasha Smith had 10, and Ymonne Davidson-Mays also tallied 10. Smith joined Bull on the all-tournament team.
 
Sophomore guard Aubree Callen (Jerome, Idaho) chipped in 10 points for Seattle Pacific.
 
The Falcons are off until Monday, Dec. 19, when they play host to Pacific Lutheran at 7 p.m. in the final non-conference game of the season.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
GNAC-CCAA Challenge
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Chico State 77, Seattle Pacific 72
 
CHICO STATE (5-2, 2-1 CCAA)                          
Bull 7-14 5-8 19; Miller 4-10 2-4 12; Smith 4-7 0-0 10; Davidson-Mays 4-7 1-1 10; Ward 3-7 0-0 9; Harrison 2-4 0-0 5; Messersmith 2-4 0-0 4; Dalthorp 2-4 0-0 4; Sewell 1-1 0-0 2; Hamilton 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 30-61 8-13 77.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (6-3, 1-1 GNAC)
Murray 6-10 9-10 23; Benson 7-14 6-9 20; Callen 3-5 4-4 10; Harazin 1-7 4-5 6; Reimer 1-3 2-2 4; Gorman 2-3 0-0
4; Sims 1-4 1-1 3; Ohlsen 0-4 2-2 2; Kingma 0-5 0-0 0; Thralls,Katie 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-56 28-33 72.
 
Chico State...................   37   40  -   77
Seattle Pacific...............   41   31  -   72
 
3-point goals--Chico State 9-20 (Ward 3-6; Miller 2-4; Smith 2-4; Davidson-Mays 1-2; Harrison 1-3;
Hamilton 0-1), Seattle Pacific 2-17 (Murray 2-4; Benson 0-2; Callen 0-2; HarazinJordan 0-3; Gorman 0-1;
Sims 0-1; Ohlsen 0-3; Kingma 0-1). Fouled out—Chico State-None, Seattle Pacific-None. Rebounds--Chico State 33 (Miller 7; Bull 7), Seattle Pacific 37 (Benson 9). Assists—Chico State 19 (Bull 5), Seattle Pacific 12 (Gorman 3;
Ohlsen 3). Total fouls--Chico State 27, Seattle Pacific 15. Technical fouls--Chico State-None, Seattle Pacific-None. A-167.
 
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: MVP-Synchro Bull (CSU), Katie Benson (SPU), Corinn Waltrip (WWU), Natasha Smith (CSU), Rachel Murray (SPU), Kristin Schramm (WWU)