SRJC 82, American River College 45
Friday night the Bear Cubs (10-6, 2-2) were back at home to host the Beavers (4-12, 0-5) of American River College. Reese Searcy scored the first two points of the game on a pair of free throws at the 8:40 mark. The Bear Cubs made their next three shots in a row—Ivy Gonzalez's 4-foot fade-away shot from the middle of the key, Searcy's steal and layup, and Lucca Lowenberg's 3-pointer—prompting the American River coach to call a timeout. Right after Maya Salas swished a 3-pointer, Adriana Rubio Perez scored the Beavers' first field goal on a fast break layup with 6:00 on the clock. Over a minute later Ivy Gonzalez cut into the key and caught Salas' assist next to the hoop. Then Reese Searcy intercepted a pass and was fouled trying to score. She made one free throw to extend the lead to 15-2. On the Beavers' next possession, Tamai Mancuso drew a shooting foul and made just the first free throw. Maya Salas tallied the next five points on a layup after making a steal, passing to Lindsey Arellano, and getting the ball back, and then on a 3-pointer off of Lowenberg's assist. Hailey Karpel drained a 3-pointer with 1:53 left, and 45 seconds later so did Maya Salas. Perez sank a field goal with 38 seconds remaining to put the Bear Cubs' lead at 23-8 by the end of the period.
Ivy Gonzalez hit a shot from just beyond the arc to start the scoring in the second quarter. Sixteen seconds later Tamai Mancuso swished a long 3-pointer, and then Ivy Gonzalez sank a 6-foot fade-away shot. Adriana Rubio Perez's basket was followed by Abby Sanchez's 4-footer. The Beavers scored the next five points on Hailey Karpel's 3-pointer and Mancuso's field goal with 5:20 on the clock, making their deficit 18-30. The Bear Cubs went on a 13-0 run comprised of two free throws by Meredith Gilbertson, Reese Searcy's putback, Hannah Webb's drive and 3-pointer, Praise Nigimar's drive, and two free throws by JJ Martinez with 21 seconds left. Ashley Laguna Gonzalez banked in a field goal two seconds before the buzzer sounded with the Bear Cubs ahead 43-20 going into halftime.
The Bear Cubs scored the first five points of the third quarter on Reese Searcy's steal and layup and Lucca Lowenberg's 3-pointer. Tamai Mancuso swished a 3-pointer at the 7:06 mark. The Bear Cubs missed their next four shots before Meredith Gilbertson's putback with 5:35 on the clock. About a minute later Gilbertson cut across the baseline and caught Lowenberg's assist next to the hoop. Then Mancuso sank another 3-pointer. On the Bear Cubs' next possession, Maya Salas grabbed an offensive rebound, passed out to the wing, got the ball back, drove along the baseline, stopped, and put in the 5-footer. Abby Sanchez drained a 3-pointer off of Salas' assist with 3:02 left. Post player Sydney Grant banked in a 2-footer 34 seconds later. The Bear Cubs scored seven unanswered points on Salas' 3-pointer, Lindsey Arellano's 10-footer, and Praise Nigimar's layup. Hailey Karpel's 3-pointer two seconds before the end of the quarter put the Bear Cubs' lead at 64-31.
Abby Sanchez took the Bear Cubs' first shot of the fourth quarter and sank the 3-pointer. Sydney Grant tallied the Beavers' first two points on a pair of free throws. JJ Martinez hit a 3-pointer with 7:34 on the clock, and then 27 seconds later Adriana Rubio Perez sank a field goal. During the next three minutes Reese Searcy banked in a 3-pointer, and JJ Martinez scored seven points in a row on two drives and a 3-pointer. Meanwhile the Beavers only added two points on two out of four free throws, leaving them in a 37-80 hole. The Beavers outscored their hosts 8-2 in the last four minutes of the contest, as the Bear Cubs only added Lucca Lowenberg's 6-footer from the middle of the key off of Praise Nigimar's assist, resulting in a final score of 82-45.
One of the Bear Cubs' main points of focus in their defensive game plan was to try to limit Beavers' guard Tamai Mancuso's scoring contribution. Mancuso, who scored 53 points against Las Positas College, leads the Beavers in scoring with an average of 30.0 ppg. The Bear Cubs' guards, particularly Reese Searcy and Maycee Hunter, did a terrific job of maintaining tight defensive pressure, limiting Mancuso to 17 points, five coming in the final two and a half minutes. Offensively, the Bear Cubs moved the ball quicker and more efficiently than in the past two losses. The Bear Cubs grabbed 20 offensive rebounds, seven of them by Meredith Gilbertson. Hailey Karpel sank three 3-pointers and finished with 10 points.
Guards Maya Salas (6 out of 10) and JJ Martinez (4 for 5) had their best shooting night, as they posted season-highs of 16 and 12 points, respectively. Reese Searcy scored 12 points and made 5 steals. Ivy Gonzalez added 9 points, Abby Sanchez and Lucca Lowenberg 8 each, Meredith Gilbertson 6, Hannah Webb 5, Praise Nigimar 4, and Lindsey Arellano 2. Meredith Gilbertson grabbed a season-high 16 rebounds.