SRJC 64, Diablo Valley College 96
The Bear Cubs (8-12, 3-5) traveled to Pleasant Hill to face the Vikings of Diablo Valley College (16-1, 6-1), who are ranked #2 in the North behind San Joaquin Delta College. The Vikings scored the first three points of the game before Kierra Johnson hit an 18-footer and Lani Lincoln dropped in an 8-foot floater with 6:22 on the clock. Nia Johnson, the Vikings' leading scorer, who entered the game averaging over 19 points per game, drew a shooting foul 27 seconds later and made both free throws. Kierra Johnson sank another 18-footer, Ra'Anna Bey drained a 3-pointer for the Vikings, and Kierra banked in a putback at the midpoint of the quarter. The Vikings scored the next 8 points on a field goal and two 3-pointers for a 16-8 lead at the 2:32 mark. Johnson tallied the Bear Cubs' final two points of the period on a pair of free throws with 1:23 left. Nia Johnson's field goal completed the scoring with her 10th point and the hosts ahead 18-10.
Nia Johnson scored the first field goal of the second quarter on the Vikings' first possession. The Bear Cubs broke the Vikings' full court press, and Trinity Hawkins laid the ball in. Following two Vikings' 3-pointers, Kassi Agapoff scored on a drive. Nia Johnson scored inside, and then Lani Lincoln drove into the key, spun around, and tossed the ball through the basket, making their deficit 16-28 with 6:56 on the clock. During the remainder of the period Amaya Macandog went to the free throw line twice and made all four free throws, Kierra Johnson made her two free throws and also two layups to get to 26 points. Meanwhile the Vikings finished the period with two field goals and six 3-pointers to sprint out to a 50-26 lead by halftime.
The Vikings made the first two field goals of the third quarter in 30 seconds. Nearly a minute later Trinity Hawkins passed to a cutting Kierra Johnson, who made the shot around a defender. Kierra Johnson scored on a low post move, and then Ra'Anna Bey drained her fourth 3-pointer. The Bear Cubs turned the ball over and Nia Johnson scored inside again. The Bear Cubs added two points 32 seconds after that when Trinity Hawkins grabbed a defensive rebound, dribbled the length of the court past everyone else, and made the layup to get the score to 32-59 with 6:42 on the clock. The Vikings finished the quarter with three 3-pointers, two field goals, and three free throws. The Bear Cubs were only able to add four free throws, one field goal by Lani Lincoln, and Kassi Agapoff's 3-pointer with 1:50 left. The Vikings' lead by the end of the quarter was 75-41.
Nia Johnson drew a shooting foul 8 seconds into the fourth quarter and made both free throws. Kassi Agapoff scored on a drive 24 seconds later. Nia added two more free throws. Kierra was successful on a low post move, and the next time down Lani Lincoln passed to Trinity Hawkins cutting to the hoop to make the 1-footer. Twenty seconds later Nadia Johnson sank a 3-pointer, and 17 seconds after that Amaya Macandog made one from beyond the arc. Two more free throws by Nia were matched by two more by Kierra. Then Nia made a tough shot inside, followed by Kierra scoring on a low post move. Eleven seconds after Marlana Sawyer made a field goal, Nadia Johnson sank one. With 3:42 left, Lani Lincoln was able to launch only her second 3-point attempt of the game, which she swished. She drained another one 76 seconds later, making the score 62-94. Just before the 2-minute mark, Kierra Johnson passed from the high post to a cutting Marlana Sawyer, who caught the ball in stride and made the layup. The Vikings added one more field goal to make the final score 96-64.
The Bear Cubs again were plagued by turnovers. They turned the ball over 28 times in the first three quarters, many of them due to the Vikings' full-court pressure. The Vikings called off their press in the fourth quarter, and the Bear Cubs were able to outscore their opponents 23-21. The Bear Cubs only attempted 52 shots, 11 of them from 3-point range, as they made 19 field goals and 4 3-pointers (44%). The Vikings took 75 shots and made 33 (44%), including 17 out of 43 (40%) from beyond the arc. Nia Johnson led all scorers with 32 points. Ra'Anna Bey scored 23 points and Jzane Cavalli-Money 15 off the bench.
Kierra Johnson played an all-around solid game for the Bear Cubs. She registered her 12th double-double with 26 points (on 9 out of 13 attempts) and 13 rebounds, blocked a season-high 6 shots, made 8 out of 10 free throws, and passed for 2 assists, while picking up just one foul. Lani Lincoln only got off 9 shots but finished with 12 points and 5 assists. Amaya Macandog made one 3-pointer and 5 out of 6 from the free throw line to total 8 points. Kassi Agapoff added 7 points, Trinity Hawkins 6, and Marlana Sawyer 5. Trinity Hawkins grabbed 7 rebounds and passed for 4 assists.