CHICO -- Cal State LA's women's basketball team rallied impressively from a large third-quarter deficit, but couldn't quite get the job done Thursday in a California Collegiate Athletic Association game at Chico State.

The Golden Eagles sliced an 18-point Chico State lead down to two points midway through the fourth quarter, but the Wildcats hit their free-throws down the stretch and took an 83-74 decision in Acker Gym. Cal State LA (3-7, 1-3 CCAA) lost its second straight conference game after a big win at Humboldt State earlier this month.

Franeka Hall led three Golden Eagles in double figures with 21 points, five rebounds and three steals, while Bree Parsons had 15 points and seven rebounds. Rikke Fabricius had 14 points and four rebounds, while Chiara DiMarco had nine points, five rebounds and four steals. Samantha Lee hit three 3-pointers and had nine points.

McKena Barker had a career-high 17 points for Chico State (5-5, 1-4 CCAA). Whitney Branham and Natalie Valenzuela had 16 points each and Brooke Bowen had 13 points.

Cal State LA shot just under 50 percent, hitting 31-of-63 (49.2 percent) from the floor, while Chico State shot 45.2 percent (28-of-62). The Golden Eagles made half of their 12 attempts from 3-point range, while Chico State was 9-fo-23. The Wildcats were 18-of-22 from the free-throw line, including 5-of-6 in the final minute of the game, while the Golden Eagles were 6-of-9.

Cal State LA had a 35-34 rebounding edge, but also committed 25 turnovers to 18 for the Wildcats.

The Golden Eagles led early, but fell behind by as many as five points in the opening quarter before a late 3-pointer by Lee tied it at 21-21.

The Golden Eagles, though, struggled mightily in the second quarter and, after allowing the first eight points of the period, fell behind by as many as 16 points before a late 3-pointer by Hall made it 49-36 at halftime. Cal State LA was outscored, 28-15 in the quarter.

Chico State opened up a 56-38 lead in the third period before the Golden Eagles finally regained their footing. Cal State LA scored nine straight points - on a basket by Parsons, a 3-pointer by Hall and layups by Parsons and Hall to make it 56-47 and a free throw by DiMarco made it 64-53 after three quarters.

Back-to-back steals and layups by Hall started a Cal State LA surge in the fourth quarter and two layups by DiMarco, another steal and layup by Hall and a basket by Fabricius got the Golden Eagles to within 67-65 with 5:45 remaining. Another basket by Fabricius kept the margin at 69-67 with 4:39 to go and a 3-pointer by Hall made it 78-74 with 1:03 to go. The Golden Eagles, though, didn't score again and Chico State made five of its six free-throw attempts to increase the final margin of victory.

Cal State LA will return to action on New Year's Day with a road game at Stanislaus State beginning at 5:30 p.m.