SRJC 72, Sacramento City College 45
The Bear Cubs (13-8, 5-4) were back on the road east to take on the Sacramento City College Panthers (9-12, 1-8). The Bear Cubs started the game with a 9-0 run during the first four minutes on one free throw by Reese Searcy, Lucca Lowenberg's 7-footer, Maycee Hunter's 6-foot pull-up jumper, two free throws by Ivy Gonzalez, and Hunter's 20-footer. After committing four turnovers during the first four minutes, the Panthers put in their first two points on Mia Conley's field goal at the 5:32 mark. Gonzalez tallied the next eight points on a drive, a 2-footer off of Searcy's assist, two free throws, and a putback with 2:32 on the clock for a 17-2 lead. Melanie Mar swished a 3-pointer 52 seconds later. JJ Martinez's 3-pointer with 36 seconds left got the Bear Cubs to 20. Aliviyah McMurray drew a shooting foul with 16 seconds to go and sank both free throws, making their deficit 7-20 by the end of the period.
Aliviyah McMurray scored the first two points of the second quarter on a drive on their opening possession. During the next two minutes Ivy Gonzalez banked in a 3-footer off of Reese Searcy's assist, and Praise Nigimar intercepted a pass near the Panthers' free throw line then drove the ball all the way down to score the layup. For the Panthers, Mia Conley put in a field goal. McMurray made two consecutive trips to the free throw line and made all four. Gonzalez's 3-footer at the 5:45 mark made the score 26-15. Then McMurray scored the next six points on two more consecutive trips to the free throw line, again sinking all four, and a field goal to close the gap to 21-26 with 4:12 on the clock. The Bear Cubs put together an 11-0 run comprised of Searcy's two free throws, Lucca Lowenberg's 3-pointer, and two 3-pointers by Maya Salas to widen the lead back to double digits at 37-21 with 48 seconds left. Conley sank a field goal with 12 seconds to go, cutting the Bear Cubs' lead to 37-23 by halftime.
Like they did at the start of the game, the Bear Cubs went on a 10-0 run during the first four minutes of the third quarter on Lindsey Arellano's layup after Lucca Lowenberg's steal, Ivy Gonzalez's 3-pointer, her low post move, and her 3-point play on a cut to the hoop and assist from Lowenberg. Eryn Johnson's 3-pointer at the 5:45 mark put the Panthers' deficit at 26-47. The Bear Cubs added four more points on Gonzalez's 10-footer and JJ Martinez's 1-footer off of Reese Searcy's assist with 4:45 on the clock. During the remainder of the period, the Panthers sank two field goals and one out of two free throws, meanwhile Gonzalez made one free throw, JJ Martinez hit a 3-pointer, Abby Sanchez swished a baseline 10-footer, and Hannah Webb put in two free throws to stretch their lead to 58-31.
Melanie Mar drew a shooting foul 20 seconds into the fourth quarter and made just the second free throw. JJ Martinez swished 3-pointer with 8:02 on the clock. After Aliviyah McMurray and Mar each put in one field goal, Maya Salas hit a 6-footer. On the Panthers' next possession, McMurray sank a putback and drew a foul on a shorter defender who was trying to block her out. She reacted inappropriately and the official assessed her with a technical foul for taunting. She missed the and-one free throw. JJ Martinez went to the line to shoot the two technical foul free throws and made both. Praise Nigimar scored five points in a row on a cut to the hoop and a baseline inbounds pass from Lindsey Arellano, and a 3-pointer the next time down. Mia Conley sank a field goal with 4:43 left. About two minutes later JJ Martinez tallied the Bear Cubs' final points on a 2-handed reverse layup. McMurray scored the last five points of the contest on two free throws and a 3-pointer. Both teams missed their next shot attempts, and the Bear Cubs ran out the clock on their 72-45 win.
The Panthers were missing 6'1" post player Bella Bouyer, and Meredith Gilbertson was out with concussion symptoms for the Bear Cubs. The Bear Cubs' defense came up with 15 steals while forcing a total of 25 Panther turnovers. Aliviyah McMurray led the Panthers with 23 points, including 12 out of 13 from the free throw line. Mia Conley scored 12 points.
Ivy Gonzalez registered her sixth double-double with 25 points and 11 rebounds. JJ Martinez reached double figures with a season-high 14 points. Maya Salas added 8 points, Praise Nigimar 7, Lucca Lowenberg 5, Maycee Hunter 4, Reese Searcy 3, Lindsey Arellano, Abby Sanchez, and Hannah Webb 2 each. Praise Nigimar grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds. Reese Searcy passed for 6 assists and Lucca Lowenberg for 5. Lucca Lowenberg and Ivy Gonzalez each made 4 steals.