SRJC 56, Foothill College 54
In the Consolation Final of the Merced College Tournament, the Bear Cubs faced the Foothill College Owls from Los Altos Hills, the #8 team in the North. The Owls scored first with a field goal at the 8:42 mark. The Bear Cubs missed their first two shots then found the range and sank eight in a row, four of them 3-pointers by Kylie Oden, to explode to a 20-4 lead after a little over six minutes of play. During the remaining 3:50, the Owls made six free throws and Cammie Barsuglia swished a 3-pointer to make the score 23-8 by the end of the quarter.
Madeline Strom scored the first field goal of the second quarter on the Bear Cubs' opening possession. Angel Bernardi's field goal the next trip down gave the Bear Cubs a 27-8 lead. The Owls then went on a 10-0 run, which included two 3-pointers. Destiny Grayer's 3-point play stopped their streak at the 6:20 mark to put the score at 30-18. The Owls then hit a 3-pointer. Neither team scored in the next two minutes until Jenny Eggers made her own 3-pointer. During the remaining 3:45 only free throws were made--five by the Bear Cubs and four by the Owls--to make the halftime score 38-25.
The Owls had the ball to start the third quarter, and their taller post player, Ashleen Quirke, got open underneath for a short bank shot. The Bear Cubs made three shots in a row, missed their next three, and then Destiny Grayer hit a 3-pointer with 4:45 on the clock to put the score at 47-31. But the Owls finished the quarter on a 10-0 run to close to 41-47 at the end of the period.
The Owls started the fourth quarter with a 5-0 run before Jenny Eggers was successful on a post move at the 7:40 mark. The Owls then hit a deep 3-pointer to tie the contest at 49. Fifty-one seconds later, Eggers drew a shooting foul. She missed the first but made the second free throw. With 5:35 on the clock Quirke made another shot from near the basket. After 96 seconds of scoreless play, Eggers was again fouled on a shot attempt. And as she did previously, she missed the first free throw but made the second to tie the score at 51. With 2:35 left Angel Bernardi drew a foul on a drive and made both free throws. Then with 2:07 to play Destiny Grayer was fouled after grabbing a defensive rebound. It was the Owls' fifth team foul of the period, so Grayer went to the line to shoot two. She missed the first but made the second for a 54-51 advantage. The Owls' freshman guard, Alexis Flores, sank her third 3-pointer of the game to tie the score at 54 with 1:42 remaining. The Bear Cubs turned the ball over, and then so did the Owls. The Bear Cubs called a timeout with 1:10 left. They inbounded but missed their shot. The Owls rebounded but couldn't score either. With 30.1 seconds on the game clock, the Bear Cubs called a timeout. After inbounding, they weren't getting open, so coach Campbell called her last timeout with 15 seconds to go. They inbounded, made an couple of passes, then Grayer passed to Britta Irvine, who drove by two defenders on the right side of the key and banked in the layup as the shot clock went off. With just 0.1 seconds on the game clock, the Owls called a timeout but would only have enough time to tip the ball in. They inbounded from the front court sideline but couldn't get a shot off in time, as the buzzer sounded signaling the Bear Cubs' 65-54 win.
None of the Bear Cubs fouled out, as they were called for 18 fouls and the Owls for 20. The Bear Cubs made 11 out of 17 free throws (65%), while the Owls made all 12 of their attempts. During the Bear Cubs' hot shooting first quarter, they made 9 out of 16 shots (56%), including 5 out of 7 (71%) from beyond the arc. They couldn't keep up that accuracy rate during the remaining three quarters and ended up making 19 out of 43 shots (44%) for the game.
Kylie Oden, who was selected All Tourney, led all scorers with 18 points, 14 of which came in the first quarter. Jenny Eggers again scored in double figures with 12 points. Angel Bernardi tallied 10 points after making 4 out of 6 from the free throw line. Destiny Grayer added 7 points, Cammie Barsuglia 3, Britta Irvine 2, Mireya Lopez 2, and Madeline Strom 2. Britta Irvine led in rebounding