In the battle for sole possession of third place in the Big 8 Conference, the Bear Cubs (11-12, 5-4) hosted the Wolverines of Sierra College (16-8, 5-4) on Coaches vs. Cancer night. The Wolverines won the tip and scored first. The Bear Cubs missed their first shot, then made four field goals in a row to take an 8-3 lead after 3 minutes and 13 seconds of play. Then they hit a cold spell, missing their next 9 shots. The Wolverines took advantage of the Bear Cubs' lull in scoring and took the lead, 14-11, on three baskets by their 6'4" center and a 3-pointer at the 12:55 mark. Jenna Dunbar's 3-pointer tied the score at 14 nearly two minutes later. A field goal by Sarah Arteseros and one field goal and one free throw by Vai Thompson moved the Bear Cubs in front 19-14 with 9:32 on the clock. The Bear Cubs made just two of their next 14 shots before Jenna Dunbar sank her second 3-pointer with 56 seconds in the half, making their lead 28-25. The Wolverines cut that to one point 20 seconds later. Vai Thompson made both of her 1+1 free throws with 21 seconds left. The Bear Cubs got the ball back with 11 seconds remaining but turned the ball over on their half of the court, and the Wolverines scored at the buzzer, cutting the Bear Cubs' lead to 30-29 going into halftime.
The Wolverines started the second half by making five out of eight shots, two of them 3-pointers, to blast out to a 43-32 lead after just four and a half minutes into the second half. The Bear Cubs made just their second field goal of the half with 14:20 on the clock to make their deficit 34-46. They missed their next seven shots, then made five of their subsequent eight, but by then their hole was still 44-55 with 7:55 to play. They only made two of their final 14 shots, as the Wolverines stretched their lead with a field goal and eight free throws. The 48-65 loss drops the Bear Cubs into fourth place in the Big 8.
The Bear Cubs had fewer turnovers than the Wolverines (15 to 21), but shot poorly, making only 19 out of 72 shots (26%). The Bear Cubs made 8 out of 11 free throws in the first half, but only shot one in the second half. Conversely, the Wolverines made 16 out of 23 free throws in the second half.
Jenna Dunbar led all scorers with 18 points. Taylor Graham scored 10 points, all on drives to the basket. Sarah Arteseros added 6 points, Vai Thompson 5, Brooke Santander 4, Niambi Saint Louis 3, and Amber Hart 2. Brooke Santander was the top rebounder with 9. Taylor Graham grabbed 7 rebounds, passed for 5 assists and made 5 steals. The Bear Cubs were short-handed with Alicia Mehtlan and Brittney Rachuy both out with injuries.