SRJC 58, Sierra 85
The Bear Cubs (7-9, 3-3) left Santa Rosa early Saturday morning for a 1:00 pm game in Rocklin to face the top team in the North, the Wolverines of Sierra College (18-0, 6-0). The Bear Cubs came out of the blocks energized and got off to a 10-0 start on five points each by Kylie Oden and Jenny Eggers in the first four minutes. Following a Sierra timeout, the home team scored eight unanswered points to close to 8-10 with 4:46 on the clock. Kylie Oden's 3-pointer 42 seconds later started a 7-0 Bear Cubs run, which included two free throws by Destiny Grayer and a driving basket by DJ Hayes, to get their lead up to 17-9 at the 2:54 mark. The Wolverines responded with a 3-point play and field goal by their leading scorer Bri Moore. Gaby Roldan made two free throws with nine seconds to go. The Wolverines alertly found an open player near the basket, and she scored at the buzzer, cutting the Bear Cubs' lead to 19-15 at the end of the quarter.
The Wolverines scored the first five points in the second quarter in 90 seconds. Destiny Grayer made one free throw with 7:46 on the clock. Neither team scored again until the Wolverines scored on a drive at the 4:52 mark. Destiny Grayer was successful on a drive, the Wolverines made a free throw, Grayer made another field goal, and Kylie Oden swished a 3-pointer to push the Bear Cubs in front 27-23 with 3:08 left. The Wolverines made two free throws 15 seconds later. Mireya Lopez scored on a post move, and Destiny Grayer sank two free throws before the Wolverines completed a 3-point play with 2:04 remaining. Kylie Oden dropped in a floater. Moore made a free throw and drove to score with four seconds to end the half behind by just two points at 31-33.
Moore tallied the first four points of the third quarter on a free throw and a subsequent 3-point play. Mireya Lopez scored on a post move with 8:32 on the clock and hit a 3-pointer a minute later for a 38-35 lead. Moore made a 3-pointer and a field goal to give her team the lead. Lopez 's basket on a spin move tied the score at 40. After a minute of scoreless play, Moore scored on a drive. Lopez dropped in a 3-pointer followed by two free throws by Kylie Oden for a 45-42 lead with 3:27 left. Then Moore swished a 3-pointer and so did Aycee Willis. Moore scored again, and the Wolverines added one free throw before Destiny Grayer's basket with 1:00 remaining cut the Bear Cubs' deficit to 47-51. During the final 60 seconds the Wolverines made one free throw and a field goal to increase their lead to 54-47.
The Wolverines started the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer, a 3-point play, and a field goal. Jenny Eggers made an 8-footer with 8:05 on the clock and another field goal nearly two minutes later to get to 51-65. Shanel Jamison was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made all three free throws. Mireya Lopez was fouled while making a 2-footer and added the free throw at the 5:28 mark. The Wolverines capitalized on Bear Cubs' turnovers to put together an 11-0 run to jump out to a 78-54 advantage with 2:52 left. Madeline Strom made a baseline 7-footer 20 seconds later, and Cammie Barsuglia pulled up at the free throw line and drained the Bear Cubs' final basket with 1:38 left. Moore hit her third 3-pointer with 43 seconds to go, Jamison made a steal and layup, and instead of dribbling out the clock, Moore drove to sink a layup three seconds before the final buzzer to punctuate their 85-58 win.
The Wolverines outscored the Bear Cubs 31-11 in the fourth quarter and Moore finished with 43 points. The Wolverines made 10 baskets in the fourth quarter, including three from beyond the arc, while only missing seven shots. The Bear Cubs made 11 out of 21 shots (52%) in the first half but only 10 out of 31 (32%) in the second half. The Bear Cubs were 11 for 12 from the free throw line (92%), while the Wolverines shot 33 of them and made 23 (70%).
Kylie Oden and Mireya Lopez led the Bear Cubs in scoring with 15 points each. Destiny Grayer tallied 11 points, including 5 out of 6 from the free throw line. Jenny Eggers made 50% of her shots, but she only got off eight of them and finished with 9 points. Four players each scored 2 points: Gaby Roldan, Cammie Barsuglia, Madeline Strom, and DJ Hayes. Angel Bernardi didn't score but grabbed 9 rebounds, 5 of them offensive. Destiny Grayer led in assists with 5. Britta Irvine sat out her second game in a row.