SRJC 49, City College of San Francisco 70
The Rams' 6'1" center Danielle Palmer converted a 3-point play 54 seconds into quarter number two. Vai Thompson and Kerianne Noonen connected on field goal attempts to close to 19-23 with 7:43 on the clock. Two 3-pointers by the Rams widened their advantage to 29-19 at the 5:31 mark. Kylie Oden hit a field goal and converted a 3-point play to cut their deficit to 24-29 with 4:01 left in the quarter. The Rams scored the next six points for a 35-24 lead with 1:50 remaining. Vai Thompson made a single free throw with 1:18 left to complete the scoring for the first half, as the Bear Cubs went into halftime behind 25-35.
Kylie Oden's 3-pointer started the Bear Cubs off on the right foot in the third quarter, but then they missed their next six shots before Oden again completed a 3-point play at the 6:47 mark to make the score 31-41. Niambi Saint Louis' field goal a minute later found the Bear Cubs behind 33-46. After Melyra Nicolis scored back-to-back field goals, the Bear Cubs were still in a 37-51 hole. During the remaining 3:36 in the quarter the Rams added one field goal to their total while the Bear Cubs made four out of six free throws, bringing the score to 53-41 in favor of the home team.
The Bear Cubs missed their first 10 shots of the fourth quarter while their opponents seemed to score easily. By the time the Bear Cubs scored their first point of the quarter on one out of two free throws by Zaina Depina at the 2:47 mark, the Rams had increased their point total to 67. Niambi Saint Louis made the Bear Cubs' first field goal with 2:10 remaining. Melyra Nicolis banked in a putback 30 seconds later and Kylie Oden sank a 3-pointer with 34 seconds remaining. The Rams passed the ball around to run out the clock. Since the 30-second clock would run out before the game clock, Gabrielle Vigil launched the ball at the basket from about six feet from half court as the shot clock expired. The ball went through the net with 4 seconds on the game clock. The Bear Cubs were not able to get a shot off, so they ended up losing by a score of 47-70.
The Bear Cubs shot poorly the entire game, making only 18 out of 65 shot attempts (28%), but they only made 3 out of 16 (19%) in the fourth quarter. The Rams made 41% of their shots (26 out of 64). The Bear Cubs only shot 13 free throws, making just 8 (62%). The Rams only took 10 free throws, but they made 9 of them. Gabrielle Vigil led the Rams in scoring with 22 points, while Kelly Wong recorded 13 points and Danielle Palmer 12.
Kylie Oden made half of her shots, including three 3-pointers and both of her free throws for 17 points. Kerianne Noonen contributed 7 points and 3 assists, but never got to the free throw line. Niambi Saint Louis and Melyra Nicolis each scored 6 points and grabbed 6 rebounds. Vai Thompson scored 5 points and pulled down 5 rebounds. Zaina Depina added 4 points, Brooke Santander 3, and Madison Barsuglia 1. Brooke Santander and Kylie Oden also passed for 3 assists.
The Bear Cubs next play Los Angeles Valley College in the Third Place game, while CCSF (10-2) takes on Sierra College (9-3).
SRJC 74, East Los Angeles College 67
For their third weekend tournament in as many weeks the Bear Cubs (6-3) made the relatively short trip to the City College of San Francisco's 8th Annual Golden Gate Classic. Their opening round foe was the team that defeated them in last year's championship contest, the Huskies of East Los Angeles College (7-3).
The Huskies won the initial tipoff, but the Bear Cubs scored first on Brooke Santander's layup. The Huskies returned the favor with their own driving layup through the middle of the Bear Cubs' defense. Niambi Saint Louis' hook shot at the 5:25 mark put the Bear Cubs ahead 7-4. The Huskies scored 7 unanswered points to go out in front 11-7 with 1:40 on the clock. Kerianne Noonen made two free throws 15 seconds later, but the Huskies followed them with a 3-pointer and a field goal. Kylie Oden's 2-pointer as the quarter-ending buzzer sounded cut the Bear Cubs' deficit to 11-16.
Zaina Depina made the Bear Cubs' first shot of the second quarter--a 3-pointer. The Huskies scored their first field goal at the 9:12 mark. Kylie Oden was successful with the Bear Cubs' second shot to close the gap to 16-18. Oden made another field goal, then Ashley Hart and Vai Thompson each sank two free throws to move the Bear Cubs ahead 22-18 with 6:05 on the clock. But five seconds later the Huskies scored on a 3-point play. Following 6 points by Kerianne Noonen and one by Vai Thompson, the Huskies scored their last points of the quarter on a field goal with 2:25 left, making the score 28-29. The Bear Cubs finished the quarter with a field goal by Kylie Oden, a free throw by Brooke Santander, and a 3-pointer by Oden with 36 seconds remaining to go into halftime with a 35-28 lead.
The teams battled pretty evenly in the third quarter. The Huskies sank 6 baskets, two of them 3-pointers, and the Bear Cubs also made 6, three of them from beyond the arc. The Huskies made 7 out of 9 free throws and the Bear Cubs 5 out of 9. By the end of the quarter, the Bear Cubs were holding onto the lead by a margin of 55-49.
The Huskies started the scoring in the fourth quarter by sinking one of two free throws after just 17 seconds had elapsed. Vai Thompson tallied the Bear Cubs first points of the quarter on a field goal at the 8:35 mark. The Huskies countered with a 3-pointer about a minute later to close to within four points at 53-57. Kylie Oden's field goal with 6:42 on the clock stretched the Bear Cubs' advantage to 59-54. A field goal by the Huskies' Yasmine Tweedy 34 seconds later cut it to three points. When the Huskies sank their last field goal of the game with 3:16 to play, they were behind by a single point 60-61. Twenty-one seconds later Niambi Saint Louis scored the Bear Cubs' final field goal putting her team ahead 63-60. All of the scoring during the final 2:55 of the contest came at the free throw line.
This is when unusual circumstances took place. When the Huskies' coach argued a foul called against one of his players too forcefully, he was hit with a Technical Foul with 1:54 left in the game. Kerianne Noonen shot the two free throws, making just the first. The Huskies got the ball back but couldn't score. The Bear Cubs got the rebound and one of the officials called another Technical Foul on the East LA coach for his aggressive demeanor in reaction to the officiating. In accordance with the rules he was ejected from the game with 1:30 remaining. Kerianne Noonen went to the line to shoot the two free throws and made just the first. With 1:09 on the clock Yasmine Tweedy was fouled on a drive and made both free throws. Noonen received the inbounds pass and was immediately fouled. A different player on the East LA team was called for a Technical Foul for unsportsmanlike conduct. Noonen went to the line to shoot the two Technical free throws first and again made just one. Then with the players along the free throw lane, she shot her two for the personal foul. She made both for a 68-62 lead. Eight seconds later one of the Huskies drew a shooting foul. She made the first free throw but missed the second. Tweedy pulled down the offensive rebound and was fouled on the shot. She made both free throws. Two seconds after catching the inbounds pass, Noonen was fouled. She missed the first free throw but made the second. The Huskies missed their next shot attempt and Melyra Nicolis grabbed the rebound. She was fouled and went to the free throw line with 35 seconds remaining. She made both, raising the score to 71-65. Following a missed shot by the Huskies, Noonen drew a foul with 13 seconds to play. She made the first free throw but not the second. Kylie Oden rebounded the Huskies' final miss and was fouled aggressively with two seconds left. She took offense to the hard foul and responded inappropriately, drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct Technical Foul. Tweedy sank the two Technical free throws for the Huskies. Then Oden went to the line to shoot her two for the personal foul. She made them both to end the game with a final score of 74-67.
Both teams each made 14 2-point field goals and 5 3-pointers. The Bear Cubs literally won the game at the free throw line by making 31 out of 43. The Huskies were successful on 24 out of 36. The Bear Cubs were called for 28 fouls and the Huskies 33. Yasmine Tweedy led her team in scoring with 22 points.
Kerianne Noonen, who made 18 out of 24 from the free throw line, led the Bear Cubs with 25 points. Kylie Oden made 7 baskets, two of them 3-pointers, and 3 out of 4 free throws for 19 points. Niambi Saint Louis, who sat on the sidelines a lot due to foul trouble still finished with 8 points before fouling out with a minute left in the game. Brooke Santander also picked up her third foul in the first half so she didn't start the second half. She and Vai Thompson each scored 7 points. Zaina Depina and Melyra Nicolis each added 3 points, and Ashley Hart 2. Vai Thompson was the top rebounder with 10. Noonen grabbed 8 rebounds and passed for 6 assists.
The Bear Cubs next face the host CCSF Rams (9-2) who defeated San Bernardino Valley College (5-4) 84-69.