Women's Basketball: Bear Cubs get a home win against Sacramento City

Women's Basketball: Bear Cubs get a home win against Sacramento City

SRJC 53, Sacramento City College 45

             On another rainy night the Bear Cubs (6-13, 1-4) hosted the Panthers (9-10, 2-3) of Sacramento City College, who were missing their top scorer, injured Jessica Lauderdale. Both teams began the game with consecutive turnovers before Tiffany Salinas scored the first two points of the game after two minutes and six seconds of play. Then Hayley Louzao and Sadie Irvine dropped in back-to-back 3-pointers for an 8-0 lead, prompting the Sac City coach to call a timeout at the 7:01 mark. When play resumed, the Panthers proceeded to complete a 3-point play followed by a 3-pointer. After Tiffany Salinas made both a field goal and a putback, the Panthers hit a field goal and a 3-pointer to cut the Bear Cubs' lead to 12-11 with 3:59 left. The Panthers scored their last basket of the quarter, a 3-pointer, with 3:18 remaining to take the lead, 14-13. The Bear Cubs finished the quarter with eight unanswered points on a field goal each by La Donna Saint Louis, Destiny Grayer, Angel Bernardi, and Jenny Eggers to jump out in front 21-14. Grayer set up Eggers' 1-footer at the buzzer by driving the length of the court with her teammates counting down the seconds and making a perfect pass past defenders rather than trying to launch a desperation 3-pointer.

            The Panthers scored first on their opening shot of the second quarter. Sadie Irvine swished a 3-pointer 15 seconds later. Neither team was able to tack on any more points during the next two minutes. The Panthers scored on a drive then made one of two free throws on their subsequent turn on offense, pulling them to 19-24 with 6:16 on the clock. The Bear Cubs finally scored at the 4:13 mark when Angel Bernardi sank a layup on a fast break just ahead of a defender. The Panthers scored the next seven points to tie the game at 26 with 1:14 left. With 16 seconds remaining Jenny Eggers scored on a putback to give the Bear Cubs a 28-26 lead at the half.

            The Bear Cubs missed their first four shots of the third quarter, all on their first possession. Sadie Irvine hit a 10-footer on their second time down. Again both teams went scoreless for two minutes until the Panthers banked in a short shot with 6:48 on the clock. A minute later Irvine made another pull-up jumper, which was followed by La Donna Saint Louis' baseline field goal for a 34-28 lead. The Panthers scored the next three points on free throws, the final one coming at the 2:16 mark. The Bear Cubs ended the quarter with three consecutive field goals—one each by Hayley Louzao, Jenny Eggers, and Irvine—for a 40-31 advantage.

            After 67 seconds of play in the fourth quarter, the Panthers dropped in a 3-pointer. With 7:20 on the clock Jenny Eggers drew a shooting foul and made one free throw. The Panthers scored two field goals to close 38-41 with 5:43 left. Twenty-one seconds later Sadie Irvine hit the Bear Cubs' first field goal of the period. About a minute after that Tiffany Salinas drove across the middle of the key and tossed in a one-handed shot to extend the margin to 45-38. The Panthers added one free throw, and then La Donna Saint Louis swished an 8-footer. A Panther field goal with 2:19 left cut their deficit to 41-47. On the Bear Cubs' turn on offense, Salinas grabbed a missed shot and dropped in the putback. The Panthers answered with a 3-pointer to get to 44-49 with 1:08 remaining. The Panthers were forced to foul in the final minute of the contest and Salinas made one free throw and Irvine three. The Panthers could only add one free throw to their total, giving the Bear Cubs a 53-45 win.

            After making 9 out of 15 shots (60%) in the first quarter, the Bear Cubs only made 3 out of 19 (16%) in the second against the Panthers' zone defense. In the second half the Bear Cubs made 10 out of 33 shots (30%).

            Sadie Irvine led all scorers with 17 points. Tiffany Salinas recorded her fifth double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds. La Donna Saint Louis and Jenny Eggers each tallied 7 points, Hayley Louzao 5, Angel Bernardi 4, and Destiny Grayer 2. Angel Bernardi was second in rebounding with 7, 5 of them on the offensive end. Zaina Depina and Destiny Grayer each passed for 4 assists. Grayer made 4 steals. Tiffany Salinas blocked 4 shots, including batting a 3-point attempt out of bounds with 22 seconds remaining and the Bear Cubs holding a 6-point lead.

Bear Cubs next have Sierra College Tuesday at home 1-24 at 7:30pm.