TURLOCK — When it comes down to it, Saturday night's CCAA game between the Warriors and Chico State was more-or-less decided on the free throw line.

Chico State converted on 86.2 percent of its free chances, 25-for-29, en route to a conference win over Cal State Stanislaus, 85-79, inside the Ed & Bertha Fitzpatrick Arena.

Hannah Womack and Whitney Branham accounted for 43 of the Wildcat points as they improved to 4-3 overall and 1-2 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, in this the first-round-of-two of back-to-back games between these conference foes.

For Stanislaus, which dropped to 2-5 overall and 0-3 in CCAA, the Warriors made just 53.6 percent of their tries from the foul line. After a 4-for-11 line in the first half, the Warriors ended up just 15 of 28 when they had the free shot.

Jasmine Washington led the Warriors with 23 points, one shy of her career high and Ana Burch scored 11 to lead Cal State Stanislaus. Riley Holladay chipped in 10 points.

Chico State also made its three-pointers when it needed the most. A Tyler Prange triple cut the Stanislaus lead to one late in the first half. Another triple, at 4:53, by Whitney Branham gave Chico its first lead — one the Wildcats never relinquished.

Then, every time the Warriors rally back, Chico State pulls back ahead. The Warriors finally surged from down by as many as 10 points midway through the second half with a Briana Cotton layup that made it 65-63 with 7:34 left to play. But the Wildcats used a 11-1 run for their biggest lead on the night at 76-64 inside the four-minute mark.

In the final minute, the Warriors again tried to finish strong. A three-point conversion by Washington and a three-pointer by Alysa Valentine flipped a 12-point Chico lead into the final score.

Womack had 25 points with 10 free throws and Branham ended up with 18 points, also with 10 free throws. Three other Wildcats were also in double-digits in scoring.

For Stanislaus, Cassidy Sanders-Curry led the way with 11 rebounds to go with nine points. However, Stanislaus was out-rebounded 49-36 for the game.

Round two of the home-and-home conference series is in Chico, a week from tonight at 5:30 p.m., just before the holiday dead-period break.