SRJC 89, College of the Redwoods 40
The Bear Cubs (0-1) hosted the College of the Redwoods Corsairs (0-0) Friday afternoon. The Corsairs were missing four players due to participation on their soccer and volleyball teams. Reese Searcy scored the first basket of the game next to the hoop off the assist pass from Meredith Gilbertson. Twenty-three seconds later Ellie Pesch swished a 3-pointer. The Bear Cubs went on a 10-0 run comprised of Lucca Lowenberg's 8-foot pull-up jumper, Ivy Gonzalez's putback, Hannah Webb receiving the outlet pass and driving past defenders to bank in the layup, Lowenberg's layup off of Reese Searcy's assist, and Ivy Gonzalez's layup at the end of another Reese Searcy pass. Lily Shelton drew a shooting foul and made one free throw for the visitors with 5:48 on the clock. Praise Nigimar banked in a layup off of Lindsey Arellano's assist, and then Lily Hoban sank a field goal to make the Bear Cubs' lead 14-6. Arellano again found Nigimar open on a cut to the basket for a layup. After Maya Salas' 3-pointer and Nigimar's successful drive, Hoban hit another field goal with 3:00 left, making the score 21-8. Nigimar then swished a 3-pointer. The Corsairs put in two more field goals to get the 12. Ivy Gonzalez drew a shooting foul and made both free throws to end the quarter with the Bear Cubs ahead 26-12.
The Bear Cubs missed their first four shots of the second quarter before Ivy Gonzalez drove across the key from the right side left handed and banked in the layup. Gonzalez scored the next two points on a 1-footer off a pass from Meredith Gilbertson. Moriah Bowles put in her only field goal of the contest at the 7:29 mark. Reese Searcy drained a 3-pointer on the Bear Cubs' next possession. Then Ellie Pesch sank her second 3-pointer. The Bear Cubs answered with three baskets in a row—Gilbertson's drive, Searcy's drive, and Gilbertson's layup at the end of a fast break—for a 39-17 lead with 4:59 on the clock. Kyla Albee put in two field goals during the next three minutes. Gilbertson banked in the Bear Cubs' last two points of the period on a give-and-go play with Gonzalez with 1:18 left. Pesch dropped in another 3-pointer 14 seconds later to end the scoring in the first half with the Bear Cubs in front 41-24.
The Bear Cubs tallied the first 7 points of the third quarter on Hannah Webb's driving layup, Lucca Lowenberg's 3-pointer, and two free throws by Meredith Gilbertson. Lily Shelton sank a basket at the 7:42 mark. The hosts went on a 12-0 run on Lucca Lowenberg's 3-pointer, one free throw each by JJ Martinez and Meredith Gilbertson, Praise Nigimar's drive, JJ Martinez's 3-pointer and subsequent layup to widen the lead to 60-26 with 2:58 on the clock. The Corsairs made three out of four free throws in the next 46 seconds. Lowenberg banked in a 1-footer off of Gonzalez's assist. The next time down Gonzalez drew a shooting foul and made one free throw. Ten seconds later Kim Lewis scored just the Corsairs' second field goal of the quarter putting the Bear Cubs' advantage at 63-31.
The Bear Cubs started the fourth quarter with an 11-0 run on Ivy Gonzalez's 3-pointer, Cece Solano's 1-footer off of Lucca Lowenberg's assist, Maya Salas' 3-pointer, and Reese Searcy's drive plus an and-one free throw. Kyla Albee broke the Corsairs' scoreless streak with a basket at the 5:54 mark. Meredith Gilbertson answered with a baseline 3-pointer. Moriah Bowles made one of two free throws and then Lily Shelton a field goal. Ivy Gonzalez dropped in a 4-footer with 3:43 on the clock. Ten seconds later Shelton made one of two free throws. JJ Martinez banked in a fast break layup and scored on a drive 17 seconds after that. The next time down Ivy Gonzalez pulled down an offensive rebound and banked in the putback with 2:39 left. Ellie Pesch sank the last Corsairs' basket 12 seconds later. In the last 2:02 of the contest Ivy Gonzalez put in a 5-footer off of Abby Sanchez's assist and Cece Solano converted a nice post move to complete the scoring in the Bear Cubs' 89-40 victory.
The Bear Cubs outrebounded the Corsairs 62-32 and outran their short-handed opponents. The Bear Cubs made 36 out of 73 shots (49%), including 9 out of 21 (43%) from beyond the arc. Ellie Pesch led the Corsairs in scoring with four 3-pointers and a total of 15 points.
Freshman Ivy Gonzalez recorded her first double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Five other players scored in double figures—Lucca Lowenberg and Meredith Gilbertson with 12 each, Praise Nigimar 11, Reese Searcy and JJ Martinez 10 each. Maya Salas added 6 points, Hannah Webb 4, and Cece Solano 4. Reese Searcy was second in rebounding with 7. Lucca Lowenberg and Reese Searcy both passed for 4 assists. Meredith Gilbertson blocked 3 shots.