SRJC 54, Modesto Junior College 51
For their first game of 2020, the Bear Cubs (5-9, 0-2) traveled to Modesto to take on the Pirates of Modesto Junior College (9-4, 0-2). The Bear Cubs scored the first five points of the contest on Kierra Johnson's scoring layup and Lani Lincoln's 3-pointer. The Pirates sank one free throw with 7:46 on the clock and 40 seconds later Lizbeth Zavala dropped in a one-handed baseline runner from five feet. After a field goal by the Pirates, Trinity Hawkins hit a 10-foot jumper at the midpoint of the quarter for a 9-3 lead. The Pirates' Annie Winton made three shots in a row, the third from beyond the arc, to put her team in front 10-9 at the 3:43 mark. Nearly a minute later, following a Pirates' miss, Kassi Agapoff caught a long outlet pass and drove down the court to score the layup while being fouled. She made the free throw to get the Bear Cubs in front 12-10. The Pirates quickly answered with a 3-pointer by Grace Higle. With one minute left, Amaya Macandog swished a 3-pointer for a 15-13 margin. The Pirates tied the score on a putback at the buzzer.
Amaya Macandog took the Bear Cubs' first shot of the second quarter and drained the 3-pointer. The next time down Lani Lincoln also swished a 3-pointer. The Pirates scored their first field goal with 7:49 on the clock, and 27 seconds later Kierra Johnson dropped in a 15-footer for a 23-17 lead. The Pirates made a field goal, and 50 seconds after that Johnson banked in a layup. The Pirates swished a 3-pointer at the 5:23 mark, and Kierra Johnson made one free throw on the Bear Cubs' next possession to put the score at 26-22. Neither team scored again until Johnson's successful a low post move with 1:40 left. Winton's field goal with 1:21 remaining in the half completed the scoring, making the Bear Cubs' advantage 28-24.
The Pirates scored the first two points of the third quarter, and Trinity Hawkins matched it. Trinity Hawkins's 3-point play on a drive to the hoop their next time down got the lead up to 33-26 with 8:03 on the clock. The Bear Cubs missed their next 10 shots, while the Pirates scored 10 unanswered points. Lani Lincoln's 3-pointer broke the scoreless streak at the 2:30 mark to tie the score at 36. The Pirates sank two free throws, and Kierra Johnson scored on a drive with 1:51 left. The Pirates added two more free throws, and the Bear Cubs missed their final shot of the quarter, leaving the Pirates with a 40-38 lead.
The Pirates started the scoring in the fourth quarter with Grace Higle's 3-pointer after 95 seconds for a 43-38 lead. The Bear Cubs put together a 9-0 run on Kierra Johnson's drive, her 12-footer, Trinity Hawkins' layup, and Lani Lincoln's 3-pointer at the 4:36 mark to jump back in front 47-43. The Pirates responded with five unanswered points to assume a 48-47 lead with 3:03 left. Twenty-one seconds later Lani Lincoln drove then banked in a one-hander from eight feet to put the Bear Cubs ahead 49-48. Both teams missed their next three shots. The Pirates were called for a traveling violation with 30.6 seconds remaining. The Bear Cubs called a timeout and advanced the ball to their front-court sideline. The Pirates had only committed one foul in the quarter, so they had to immediately foul each time the Bear Cubs inbounded. Due to a change in the rules, the 30-second clock does not get reset if there are more than 20 seconds when a foul is called, so the Bear Cubs couldn't just run out the clock if given the opportunity. Finally with 21 seconds to go, the Pirates fouled to put Lani Lincoln on the free throw line. Lincoln sank both free throws for a 51-48 margin. The Pirates inbounded and called their final timeout with 14 seconds left. The Bear Cubs, who had only committed one team foul, meant to foul before any of the Pirates could try to shoot. Unfortunately, Trinity Hawkins was a step late and fouled Annie Winton as she launched a shot from beyond the arc. She sank all three free throws to tie the contest at 51. The Bear Cubs called a timeout with 10 seconds on the clock and advanced the ball. When play resumed, they got the ball to Lizbeth Zavala, who was wide open next to the basket. She missed the 1-footer, but the Pirates tipped the ball out of bounds. With four seconds remaining, the Bear Cubs called their final timeout. On the baseline inbounds play, the two post players were closely guarded and the only teammate Lani Lincoln could find open was Lizbeth Zavala on the baseline near the sideline. Lizbeth Zavala drained the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1.5 ticks left. The Pirates inbounded and couldn't get a shot off in time, as the Bear Cubs won on Zavala's redemption shot, 54-51.
As reflected by the score, the contest was statistically even. The Bear Cubs made 21 out of 60 shots (35%) and the Pirates put in 29 out of 57 (33.3%). The Pirates had the edge at the free throw line (9 out of 13) to the Bear Cubs' 5 out of 8. The Bear Cubs, however, tallied seven 3-pointers to their opponents' four. The Bear Cubs turned the ball over 15 times while the Pirates committed 17 turnovers. Annie Winton and Grace Higle each scored 19 points.
Lani Lincoln, who sank four 3-pointers, led the Bear Cubs with 16 points and 9 rebounds. Kierra Johnson contributed 15 points and 9 rebounds. Trinity Hawkins scored 9 points and pulled down 8 rebounds. Amaya Macandog made both of her shots from beyond the arc for 6 points. Lizbeth Zavala added 5 points and Kassi Agapoff 3. Lani Lincoln and Kassi Agapoff both passed for 3 assists each. Kierra Johnson made a season-high 6 steals, 3 of which helped the Bear Cubs shut down the Pirates in the fourth quarter.