SRJC 76, American River College 45
Tuesday the Bear Cubs (14-10, 6-6) traveled to West Sacramento to face the Beavers (5-19, 1-12) of American River College. The Beavers got on the scoreboard first on Derika Lewis' 15-footer 30 seconds in. Maycee Hunter took the Bear Cubs' first shot and sank the 12-footer pull up jumper. Adriana Rubio Perez's 4-footer put the Beavers in front again. The Bear Cubs scored the next seven points on Reese Searcy's two free throws, Lucca Lowenberg's steal and layup, and her 3-pointer at the 6:35 mark to take the lead for good. Tamai Mancuso's field goal 22 seconds later was followed by Ivy Gonzalez's 1-footer off of Lowenberg's assist, two free throws by Lowenberg, and Searcy's fast break layup off of Lowenberg's long lead pass for a 15-6 advantage with 3:21 on the clock. Hailey Karpel swished a 3-pointer with 2:35 left. The Bear Cubs scored the next five points on Praise Nigimar's 1-footer off of Lowenberg's assist, Ivy Gonzalez's putback, and one free throw by Nigimar to stretch the lead to 20-9. With 27 seconds remaining, Mancuso drew a shooting foul and made just the first free throw. By the end of the quarter the Bear Cubs were ahead 20-10.
The Beavers started the second quarter with the ball and within 10 seconds Adriana Rubio Perez sank a field goal. The Bear Cubs answered with Maycee Hunter's fast break layup off of Maya Salas' long pass and Ivy Gonzalez's 2-footer off of Lindsey Arellano's assist. The Beavers put together a 7-0 run to close the gap to 19-24 at the 7:08 mark. Gonzalez's 8-foot fade-away shot and Lucca Lowenberg's 3-pointer got the lead back up to 10 at 29-19. After Tamai Mancuso's field goal with 5:33 on the clock, the Bear Cubs put in the next nine points on Reese Searcy's drive, her 3-pointer, Meredith Gilbertson's 1-footer off of Searcy's assist, and Hannah Webb's steal and layup. Perez made one free throw with 1:27 left, and then Praise Nigimar scored on a drive. Hailey Karpel's basket made the Beavers' deficit 24-40 by halftime.
During the first four minutes of the third quarter, the Bear Cubs made six shots in a row—Ivy Gonzalez's 3-pointer, her 18-footer, Lucca Lowenberg's drive, Meredith Gilbertson's fast break layup off of Reese Searcy's assist, Maycee Hunter's drive, and Lindsey Arellano's 3-pointer—to widen their lead to 54-28. In the remaining six minutes, the Bear Cubs only added Cece Solano's putback, while the Beavers tallied just four points on four out of four free throws by Tamai Mancuso, resulting in a Bear Cubs' lead of 56-32.
Meredith Gilbertson started the scoring in the fourth quarter when she caught Reese Searcy' fast break pass as she was running under the basket and then flipped in the reverse layup. Derika Lewis sank an outside shot, Reese Searcy banked in a putback, and then Hailey Karpel drained a 3-pointer at the 8:22 mark. The Bear Cubs put in the next four points on Ivy Gonzalez's 1-footer as the trailer on a fast break and assist from Meredith Gilbertson, and Maycee Hunter's layup on a cut to the hoop and assist from Lucca Lowenberg. Tamai Mancuso scored inside with 5:51 on the clock, making the Bear Cubs' lead 64-39. The Bear Cubs added six unanswered points on two free throws by Praise Nigimar, Abby Sanchez's 15-foot pull up jumper, and Hunter's fast break layup. With 4:04 left Karpel swished her third 3-pointer. Hunter dropped in a 12-footer off of Lowenberg's assist, and Lowenberg scored on a fast break layup with 3:20 remaining. Karpel's fourth 3-pointer with 2:17 left completed the Beavers' scoring. Cece Solano put in the final two points of the contest on a low post move for a 76-45 winning margin.
The Bear Cubs played tight defense on the Beavers' and Big 8 leading scorer, Tamai Mancuso, holding her to 18 points, 10 below her average, and made it tough for her teammates to score. The Bear Cubs made 64% (27 out of 42) of their 2-point attempts, many within three feet of the basket. Two Beavers reached double figures: Tamai Mancuso with 18 points and Hailey Karpel with 16.
Ivy Gonzalez registered her seventh double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Three other Bear Cubs tallied double digit points: Lucca Lowenberg with 14, Maycee Hunter 12, and Reese Searcy 11. Praise Nigimar added 7 points, Meredith Gilbertson 6, Cece Solano 4, Lindsey Arellano 3, Abby Sanchez and Hannah Webb 2 each. Praise Nigimar was second in rebounding with 8. The Bear Cubs passed for a season-high 20 assists with Lucca Lowenberg leading the way with 7. Maycee Hunter made 5 steals.