SRJC 71, Modesto Junior College 53
Prior to the start of their final regular season home game, the Bear Cubs (16-10, 8-6) honored their three sophomores: Hannah Webb, Meredith Gilbertson, and Lucca Lowenberg. Their opponents, the Pirates (13-13, 6-8) of Modesto Junior College, won the tipoff and Krista Andersen sank a 12-footer. About a minute later Reese Searcy grabbed a defensive rebound, dribbled to near midcourt, and passed ahead to Lucca Lowenberg for the fast break layup. Lowenberg was fouled on the play and sank the and-one free throw. Ivy Gonzalez scored the next four points on a drive and then a 12-footer off of Meredith Gilbertson's assist for a 7-2 lead at the 6:39 mark. Fifty-four seconds later Mary Cotton drew a shooting foul and made both free throws. Lowenberg scored on a drive, and then Cotton was back at the free throw line to make two more. Mikaylah Vaught drained a 3-pointer to tie the score at 9-9 with 4:38 on the clock. The Bear Cubs put together a 7-0 run comprised of Searcy's drive, Lowenberg's 3-pointer, and Gilbertson's baseline drive and reverse layup. After Vaught's field goal, Searcy drew a foul on a drive and made one free throw. Lowenberg's steal and layup with 1:03 left gave the Bear Cubs a 19-11 lead. Abigail DeGrazia sank a basket, and then Praise Nigimar dropped in a 1-footer off of Searcy's baseline inbounds pass. Amira Manning was all alone on the left side of their basket when the offensive rebound came down to her. Her putback at the buzzer made the Pirates' deficit 15-21.
Mary Cotton took the Pirates' first shot of the second quarter and swished the shot from beyond the arc. During the next four and a half minutes, both teams missed all of their shot attempts. The Bear Cubs did add two free throws each by Reese Searcy and Meredith Gilbertson. Finally with 4:37 on the clock Reese Searcy scored on a full-court dribble-drive after grabbing a defensive rebound and then adding the and-one free throw for a 28-18 advantage. The Modesto coach called a time-out. The Pirates responded with six unanswered points on two free throws by Maliyah Hutchinson and two field goals by Cotton. After Searcy sank two free throws, Sara Davis made a basket. Gilbertson was fouled on a shot attempt with 1:58 on the clock and made one free throw. Then she intercepted a pass in the Pirates' front court and turned the steal into a layup. Cotton drained a 3-pointer, and 18 seconds later so did Lucca Lowenberg. Davis put in the Pirates' final field goal of the quarter with 35 seconds left. With 20 seconds to go, Lowenberg dropped in her third 3-pointer to give the Bear Cubs a 39-31 halftime lead.
The Pirates began the third quarter with the ball, and just when it seemed like they were going to get called for a shot clock violation, Mikaylah Vaught hit a long 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded. The Bear Cubs then went on a 10-0 run—Meredith Gilbertson's putback, Reese Searcy layup off of Gilbertson's steal and long pass, Ivy Gonzalez's 3-pointer, and Lucca Lowenberg's 3-pointer—to jump out ahead 49-34 at the 5:48 mark. Twenty-four seconds later Maliyah Hutchinson banked in a putback. Gonzalez scored on a drive from the high post, and then Mary Cotton put in two field goals. Lowenberg's 3-pointer with 2:29 on the clock made the Bear Cubs' lead 54-40. The Pirates added three more points on one free throw by Cotton and Amira Manning's basket with 1:28 left. The Bear Cubs scored the last four points of the quarter on Lowenberg's layup after Searcy's steal and long assist pass, and Gilbertson's underhanded 1-footer off of Searcy's assist at the buzzer for a 58-43 lead.
The Bear Cubs started the fourth quarter with a 6-0 run on two free throws by Ivy Gonzalez, Lindsey Arellano's one-handed toss from three feet below the free throw line after driving from the left wing, and Praise Nigimar's 2-footer off of Gonzalez's assist with 7:04 on the clock. Twenty-seven seconds later Mary Cotton made the Pirates' first field goal of the quarter. Nigimar intercepted a pass on the Pirates' right wing, dribbled down, quickly stopped next to the basket, waited for a defender to go by, and banked in the 2-footer. Sara Davis sank a field goal at the 4:47 mark. JJ Martinez completed a 3-point play after catching Reese Searcy's pass close to the basket and flipping in the underhanded shot up and through the hoop. Searcy tallied the Bear Cubs' final points on a pair of free throws with 3:46 left. The Pirates added six more points on four out of eight free throws and a layup by Alicia Rose Platt, as the Bear Cubs went on to win by a score of 71-53.
For the second game in a row the Bear Cubs played solid team defense and pushed the ball on offense against a tough and taller opponent. They made 46% (25 out of 54) of their shot attempts and held the Pirates to 34% (19 out of 56). Eight different Bear Cubs contributed to the team total of 13 steals. Mary Cotton was the only Pirate to reach double figures with 21 points.
Lucca Lowenberg made 5 out of 7 3-point attempts and totaled 24 points. Reese Searcy put in 3 out of 4 shots and 8 out of 9 free throws for 14 points. Meredith Gilbertson and Ivy Gonzalez each scored 11 points. Praise Nigimar added 6 points, JJ Martinez 3, and Lindsey Arellano 2. Meredith Gilbertson grabbed 8 rebounds and Reese Searcy 6. Searcy passed for 7 assists and Gilbertson for 4. Gilbertson led in steals with 3.