Winter college notebook: Miller’s big second half saves the day for Chico State

That’s why they play two halves.

After a scoreless first half in which she missed all three of her shots, Jazmine Miller poured in 16 points to help the Chico State women’s basketball team overcome a 30-22 halftime deficit in a 54-53 edging of San Francisco State.

The Vanden High grad also had four rebounds and two steals before getting three points and nine rebounds in a 66-48 dunking of Sonoma State.

The junior guard leads the Wildcats (18-2, 14-2 CCAA) at 12.6 points points per game and is second with 5.9 rebounds.

Shannon Rankin (Solano) had one rebound for San Francisco State (10-10, 7-9 CCAA) in the loss to the Wildcats and then had six points and two rebounds in a 73-58 stuffing of Cal State Stanislaus.

Erimma Amarikwa (Vanden) amassed 17 points and seven rebounds as San Diego State (17-5, 8-1) took over first place in the Mountain West Conference by crushing Fresno State 74-49, avenging an earlier 80-72 loss to the Bulldogs.

Earlier, Amarikwa had 14 points, six rebounds and three steals as the Aztecs bounced Boise State 64-40, with Khristina Hunter (Rodriguez) adding six points, six rebounds and one block for SDSU.

Holy Names led 23-21 but was outscored 17-5 over the final 5:38 of the first half and never recovered in a 70-47 burying by Grand Canyon. Renique Fitzpatrick (Armijo) had seven points and four rebounds for the Hawks (10-12, 4-9 Pac West).

Cal State Dominguez Hills fell 63-43 to Cal State East Bay as Denisha Lundy (Vanden) had one point for the Toros (7-13, 6-10 CCAA).

Tahvia Morrison (Vanden) contributed one assist and one rebound as UC Riverside (11-10, 4-6 Big West) dazzled Cal State Fullerton 64-45.

Presley Neufeld (Solano) tied for the team-high with 11 points and added four steals and three assists, but it wasn’t enough to keep Eastern Nazarene (10-12, 5-10 CCC) from dropping a 61-47 decision to New England.

Goli Tavassoli (Vanden, Solano) had a double-double in a losing cause, amassing 10 points, 10 assists and four rebounds in a Waldorf’s 76-73 setback in overtime to Haskell Indian Nations. Earlier, the Warriors (16-11, 7-7 MCAC) crushed Central Chrisitan 79-58 with Tavassoli getting nine points, eight assists and five rebounds.

Ivy Jones (Solano) contributed 10 points, eight assists and five rebounds as Nebraka-Kearney (6-14, 3-10 MIAA), coached by former Solano assistant Kevin Chaney, fell to Fort Hays State 87-63.

All 12 players scored for Lourdes as the Gray Wolves (9-19, 6-14 WHAC) set a school record for points in a game in a 91-63 mauling of Marygrove. Lourdes, coached by former Fairfield High great Zareth Gray, also fell to Siena Heights 59-35.

Our Lady of the Lake (23-2, 16-2 RRAC) fell short in avenging its only loss of the season by falling 84-82 to Wiley. Earlier, the Saints obliterated Texas College 110-72 and St. Thomas-Houston 94-71.

Men’s basketball

Ronnie Baker (Rodriguez) scored 11 points to help Alaska (13-8, 8-5 GNAC) edge Western Oregon 80-77. He then had eight points and five rebounds before fouling out in the Nanoonks’ 68–67 overtime loss to St. Martin’s.

Marcus Carter (Solano) turned in a double-double – 21 points and 12 rebounds – but it wasn’t enough to keep Pacific Union (3-19, 1-8 Cal Pac) from dropping a 68-57 decision to William Jessup. Carter also had 12 points, four rebounds and three boards in an 86-66 loss to Simpson.

Sacramento State (12-10, 7-7 Big Sky) won two of three with John Dickson (Fairfield) getting 13 points, six rebounds and three assists in a 62-61 loss to Northern Arizona, 13 points and five rebounds in a 61-55 downing of Eastern Washington and nine points, four steals and three rebounds in a 77-71 topping of Portland State.

Menlo (7-16, 3-5 Cal Pac) was nipped 74-71 by UC Merced as Malik Dunbar (Fairfield resident) had eight points and six rounds  and Dante Miller three points for the Oaks.

San Francisco State defeated Chico State 63-59 and Cal State Stanislaus 64-50 as Robbie Herndon (Fairfield resident) had a combined three rebounds and two assists in the two games for the Gators (13-7, 11-5 CCAA).

Idaho (9-14, 5-8 WAC) lost big and small with a 76-74 edging by New Mexico State and 74-58 dumping by Denver. Mike McChristian (Wood) had 12 points, three rebounds and three assists in the former, 14 points and five rebounds in the latter.

Chaminade (13-8, 10-3 Pac West) extended its winning streak to six games as Bennie Murray (Wood) had 17 points and five rebounds in an 89-67 humbling of Hawaii-Hilo and contributed a team-high 18 points , seven rebounds and three assists in a 75-64 win over BYU-Hawaii.

Webster endured a tough week with a 73-64 loss to Spalding and 76-69 defeat by Dominican University. Roman Robinson (Rodriguez) had 12 points and three assists in the former, 10 points, four steals and three rebounds in the latter for the Gorloks (11-11, 8-5 SLIAC).

Swimming

The Merchant Marine Academy men’s swim team captured the Landmark Conference championship with 924 points to 631 for distant runner-up Susquehanna. Ben Gabbard (Vacaville) helped the Mariners by placing seventh in the 200-yard butterfly (2 minutes, 3.97 seconds) and 11th in the 400 individual medley (4:31.42).

Indoor track

Arielle Holzendorf ran a leg on Sacramento State’s winning 4×400 relay team (3:48.33) in the Husky Classic in Seattle. She also was 22nd in the 400 (57.99).

Reach Paul Farmer at 425-4646, ext. 264, or pfarmer@dailyrepublic.net. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pfarmerdr.