In their final preseason tournament, the Bear Cubs (6-6) faced a familiar foe, the Rams (9-4) of Fresno City College, in the first round of the San Jose City College Invitational Tournament. The first time these two teams met, in the second round of the Merced College Tournament, the score was close for the opening ten minutes of the game before the Rams took over and ran away with a 78-49 victory. This time, even though they were prepared for the Rams' full court pressure, the Bear Cubs wilted and committed turnover after turnover and rushed shots. The Rams jumped out to a 13-0 lead before the Bear Cubs finally got on the scoreboard with two free throws by Brooke Santander at the 11:58 mark. On their next possession Anne Studdert grabbed an offensive rebound and put in the followup shot—their first basket after missing all of their previous seven shot attempts. Jenna Dunbar's 3-pointer at the 6:13 mark made the score 9-25. The Bear Cubs missed all nine of their final shots, only scoring on one of two free throws by Amber Hart, to go into halftime in a big hole 10-31.
The Bear Cubs scored first in the second half when Alicia Mehtlan was fouled and made one of two free throws. Jenna Dunbar's 3-pointer at the 17:48 mark moved the score to 14-33. Sarah Arteseros and Niambi Saint Louis added a field goal each to cut the deficit to 18-33 with 15:08 remaining. But that was as close as the Bear Cubs would get, as the Rams sank five 3-pointers, two field goals, and five free throws the rest of the game, while the Bear Cubs only managed one 3-pointer by Jenna Dunbar, four field goals, and two free throws. The 31-57 loss drops the Bear Cubs into the loser's bracket where they next play the team they beat by only one point the previous weekend, the Rams of City College of San Francisco.
In the first half the Bear Cubs committed 19 turnovers and made only 3 out of 25 shots (12%). In the second half the Bear Cubs played harder and with more confidence as they made 8 out of 25 shots (32%) and turned the ball over 12 times. Their defense did a good job of holding the Rams, who came into the game averaging over 82 points per game, to 57 points and 33% (17 out of 52) from the field.
Jenna Dunbar led the Bear Cubs in scoring with 11 points. Vai Thompson and Brooke Santander each scored 4 points. Alicia Mehtlan, who was in foul trouble most of the game, added 3 points and 9 rebounds. Anne Studdert, Niambi Saint Louis, and Sarah Arteseros each made a single field goal, and Amber Hart made one free throw. Sarah was second in rebounding with 8. Taylor Graham led with 3 assists, and Vai Thompson with 4 blocks.