SRJC 62, Modesto Junior College 29
The Bear Cubs (4-7, 0-2) traveled to Modesto to take on the Pirates (2-9, 0-2) in their only Saturday Big 8 contest. Cammie Barsuglia scored the first basket of the game after she was able to weave her way around the defense with the dribble and through an opening to the basket. Eighteen seconds later Dezmine Washington sank a pull-up jumper to tie the score. Shayla Newman's back-to-back inside shots put the Bear Cubs ahead 6-2 with 7:48 on the clock. Two and a half minutes later the Pirates scored on a 3-footer. Meanwhile the Bear Cubs missed seven shots before Lilly Orozco's 7-footer at the 3:40 mark. Their next time down, Lizeth Zavala drove baseline and flipped in a reverse layup for a 10-4 lead. DJ Hayes' scoring drive and Zavala's layup with 1:48 left stretched the lead to 14-4. About a minute later the Pirates hit a 20-footer to make the Bear Cubs' advantage 14-6 by the end of the quarter.
The Bear Cubs missed their first five shots of the second quarter before Shayla Newman's putback with 8:00 on the clock. Maiya Flores missed a 20-footer and then sank two 3-pointers in a row to widen the lead to 22-6. Washington's field goal at the 6:00 mark got the Pirates to 8 on the scoreboard. Newman and Flores scored on consecutive fast break layups before the midpoint of the quarter. DJ Hayes drained a 10-footer, the Bear Cubs' last basket of the period, with 4:10 left. The Pirates added two field goals and Hayes and Barsuglia each put in one of two free throws to make the halftime score 30-12.
After missing their first shot of the third quarter, the Bear Cubs made four in a row—layups by Cammie Barsuglia, Britta Irvine, and DJ Hayes and a 3-pointer by Maiya Flores—to get ahead 38-14 with 5:58 on the clock. Following a single Bear Cubs' miss, Maddie Strom got open inside on a quick cut and sank the shot. Barsuglia and Flores swished back-to-back shots from beyond the arc. Flores missed her next 3-point attempt, and then sank the one after that with two seconds left to widen their lead to 51-17 by the end of the period.
Lilly Orozco drew a shooting foul 33 seconds into the fourth quarter and made just the second free throw. Alexis Robinson banked in a putback 27 seconds later. With 8:18 on the clock Orozco got open on a backdoor cut and dropped in the shot. Brooke Sawyer swished a Pirate 3-pointer with 6:40 left. Ten seconds later Orozco again drew a shooting foul and just like before, made just the second free throw. Maddie Strom completed a successful post move around a defender at the 5:40 mark. Following Washington's field goal, Strom put in a 2-footer for a 59-24 margin with 3:18 remaining. The Pirates finished the game with a free throw and two field goals. Lizeth Zavala scored on a drive, and DJ Hayes made one of two free throws to get the final score to 62-29 in the Bear Cubs' first Big 8 victory.
The Bear Cubs shooters took a while to find their range as they made only 7 out of 20 shots (35%) in the first quarter. By contrast, they only missed 3 shots in the third quarter, sinking 8 out of 11 (73%), including 4 out of 6 from 3-point land. Maiya Flores missed her first 6 shots of the game, and then hit 6 out of 9 during the remainder of the contest.
Maiya Flores was the only player on either team to score in double figures. She made 5 3-pointers, one field goal, and one free throw for 18 points. DJ Hayes, Cammie Barsuglia, and Shayla Newman totaled 8 points each. Lizeth Zavala, Lilly Orozco, and Maddie Strom each tallied 6 points, and Britta Irvine added 2. All 9 Bear Cubs grabbed at least one rebound and one steal. Newman and Strom each pulled down 6 rebounds. Hayes hustled and pressured to come up with 6 steals. Irvine and Barsuglia each passed for 3 assists.