SRJC 51, American River College 56
In the battle for fourth place in the Big 8, the Bear Cubs (7-10, 3-4) traveled back to Sacramento to take on the Beavers of American River College (12-7, 3-4). The Beavers scored the first three points of the contest as the Bear Cubs committed three straight turnovers before Angel Bernardi sank a reverse layup with 8:06 on the clock. Jasiah Sufi hit a pull-up jumper 14 seconds later. The Bear Cubs turned the ball over two more times, and then Bernardi scored on a drive to get to 4-6. Jenny Eggers sank the Bear Cubs' third shot attempt after catching a pass from Destiny Grayer and banking in the layup to tie the score. The Beavers scored the next five points until Bernardi swished a 3-pointer with 2:56 left, to cut their deficit to 9-11. The Beavers scored the last six points of the period on a putback and four free throws for a 17-9 lead.
Sufi drew a shooting foul on the Beavers' first possession and made one free throw. Jenny Eggers scored on a cut and assist from Destiny Grayer and scored again nearly a minute later. Sufi hit an 8-footer, and then Angel Bernardi made her fast break layup with 7:16 on the clock. Grayer's 3-pointer at the 6:24 mark got the Bear Cubs within two at 18-20, and a minute later Mireya Lopez's scoring drive tied the score. The Beavers took the lead on Kesler Johnson's post shot, and Danielle Biggs sank a 3-pointer for a 25-20 advantage with 3:16 left. The Bear Cubs scored six unanswered points on a field goal each by Angel Bernardi and Jenny Eggers and two free throws by Bernardi for a 26-25 edge. In the remaining 1:04, Biggs hit two 3-pointers, the second just before the quarter-ending buzzer, to propel the Beavers to a 31-26 lead at halftime.
After nearly two minutes of play in the third quarter, DJ Hayes got the scoring going with a drive around three defenders. The next trip down Jenny Eggers rebounded her own miss and banked in the putback. With 6:29 on the clock, the Beavers scored a field goal for a 33-30 margin. Eleven seconds later Mireya Lopez drew a shooting foul and made one free throw. The Beavers added a single free throw at the 5:02 mark, and Destiny Grayer's 3-pointer tied the score at 34 with 3:14 left. Sufi scored the Beavers' next five points on two free throws and a 3-pointer. A Jenny Eggers' scoring cut to the hoop and Cammie Barsuglia's 3-pointer tied the game at 39 with 2:08 left. Twenty-eight seconds later the Bear Cubs set up an inbounds play from their baseline. Grayer lobbed the pass up to an airborne Kylie Oden in front of the hoop. Oden caught the pass and without coming down first shot the ball over the rim and through the net to give her team a two-point lead. Two free throws by Johnson again tied the score. Jenny Eggers scored the final points of the quarter as she cut to the basket and caught the pass from Grayer to put the Bear Cubs ahead 43-41 at the end of the quarter.
Ninety-two seconds into the fourth quarter, the Beavers scored on a putback by Lekeshia Griffith. With 7:58 on the clock Destiny Grayer drew a shooting foul and made both free throws. Sufi made two free throws on their next possession. Neither team scored until Kylie Oden sank a floater at the 5:04 mark for a 47-45 lead. A minute later Sufi drained a 3-pointer. Then DJ Hayes scored on a drive and also drew a foul. She made the free throw to complete the 3-point play for a 50-48 lead with 3:43 left. On the Beavers' next possession, Sufi hit another 3-pointer. Johnson hit her only field goal of the quarter with 1:47 remaining for a 53-50 lead. The Bear Cubs called a timeout with 23 seconds to go, behind by three, but were unable to score. The Beavers called a timeout and inbounded from the sideline in front of their bench. The Bear Cubs immediately fouled when they couldn't get a steal. Sufi made both free throws with nine seconds left. The Bear Cubs called a timeout and advanced the ball. Kylie Oden caught the inbounds pass and was fouled on a drive. She made the first free throw but not the second. Biggs rebounded and dribbled away before getting fouled with three seconds on the clock. She missed the first but made the second. After a Bear Cubs' timeout, they inbounded from in front of their bench but missed their final shot, giving the Beavers a 5-point win, 56-51.
The Beavers began the game with six eligible players. Griffith fouled out with 7:58 left in the contest. Johnson fouled out with six seconds to go, but it was too late to give the Bear Cubs an advantage. The Beavers took 26 free throws and made 18 of them (69%). The Bear Cubs only shot 15 free throws but made just 7 (47%). Jasiah Sufi led all scorers with 25 points, including 10 out of 12 from the free throw line. Kesler Johnson, the Beavers' 6'0" center, had a solid double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds. Danielle Biggs made two free throws to go along with her three 3-pointers.
Jenny Eggers led the Bear Cubs in scoring with 14 points. Angel Bernardi recorded her first double-double with 13 points, all in the first half, and 11 rebounds. Destiny Grayer made two 3-pointers and two out of four free throws for 8 points. Kylie Oden, who got hit late in the first quarter and didn't return to action until the third period, missed all of her 3-point attempts and finished with 5 points. DJ Hayes also tallied 5 points. Mireya Lopez and Cammie Barsuglia each added 3 points. Jenny Eggers pulled down 7 rebounds. Destiny Grayer passed for 6 assists. Barsuglia and Eggers both drew three offensive fouls on driving Beavers.