SRJC 50, San Joaquin Delta College 87
The Bear Cubs (14-8, 6-4) hosted the Mustangs (17-4, 7-2) of San Joaquin Delta College, who came into the game in first place in the Big 8. Maycee Hunter scored the first two points of the contest on a putback. Jene Wells was successful on a drive. On the Mustangs' next possession Selai Niu drew a shooting foul and made one free throw. Seven seconds later Ivy Gonzalez banked in a 1-footer off of Reese Searcy's assist. The Mustangs sank two baskets in a row. Searcy's 3-point play on a drive tied the score at 7-7 with 6:51 on the clock. Kiara Council drained a 3-pointer, and 64 seconds after that Gonzalez's 4-point play on a made 3-pointer put the Bear Cubs ahead 11-10. Council's drive was followed by one made free throw by Lucca Lowenberg. Searcy's drive at the 2:55 mark gave the Bear Cubs a 14-12 lead. Council drained another 3-pointer and Niu a field goal with 1:33 left. Maya Salas' 3-pointer 23 seconds later tied the score at 17-17. Serenity Santos tallied the next seven points in the last minute of the quarter to help the Mustangs jump out to a 24-17 advantage.
Senia Moore scored on a drive after just 10 seconds into the second quarter. The Bear Cubs added the next three points in a row on one free throw by Ivy Gonzalez and Reese Searcy's steal and layup. Anyce Jefferson drove in to score on the Mustangs' next possession. Lucca Lowenberg took the Bear Cubs' second shot of the period and swished the shot from beyond the arc at the 8:07 mark. The Mustangs scored 10 unanswered points before Abby Sanchez sank two baskets in a row, the second on a 3-footer off of Cece Solano's assist with 4:27 on the clock. The Bear Cubs then missed their remaining five shot attempts. The Mustangs put in five more points on a 3-pointer and a drive for a 43-27 halftime lead.
Kiara Council sank two 3-pointers in a row to start the scoring in the third quarter. Then Reese Searcy made two steals in a row and banked in both layups. The Mustangs again went on a 10-0 run. Ivy Gonzalez's 2-footer off of Hannah Webb's assist at the 5:11 mark broke the Bear Cubs' scoreless streak. Destiny Nichols sank a field goal and Senia Moore a 3-pointer before Cece Solano banked in a 4-footer off of Maya Salas' assist with 3:00 left. Abby Sanchez's 1-footer off of Solano's assist with 2:29 remaining completed the Bear Cubs' scoring. Serenity Santos and Council each put in one more 3-pointer to extend the Mustangs' lead to 70-37 by the end of the period.
In the first three minutes of the fourth quarter Serenity Santos and Kiara Council each sank another 3-pointer; meanwhile Lucca Lowenberg scored on a drive and JJ Martinez on a layup after Lowenberg's steal and long pass to her. Then the Bear Cubs made three shots in a row—Lowenberg's 3-pointer, Martinez's layup, and Praise Nigimar's 15-footer with 5:20 on the clock. The Mustangs put in two more field goals before Martinez scored the Bear Cubs' last two points on a drive with 2:56 left. During the remainder of the contest, the Mustangs added two more field goals and Council's 3-pointer, while the Bear Cubs missed all six of their shot attempts, making the final score 87-50.
The Bear Cubs committed 29 turnovers, mostly against the Mustangs' full-court pressure, which they applied for nearly the entire game. The Bear Cubs only attempted 58 shots, making just 21 of them (36%), including 4 out of 21 (19%) from beyond the arc. The Mustangs made 14 out of 27 (52%) 3-point shots and 22 out of 47 (47%) field goal attempts, the majority of which were layups or drives around multiple defenders. Kiara Council led all scorers with 28 points, including 8 3-pointers. Senia Moore sank three 3-pointers and finished with 21 points. Serenity Santos also sank three 3-pointers and totaled 17 points.
Reese Searcy was the only Bear Cub to reach double figures with 11 points. Lucca Lowenberg and Ivy Gonzalez each scored 9 points, Abby Sanchez and JJ Martinez 6 each, Maya Salas 3, Maycee Hunter, Praise Nigimar, and Cece Solano 2 each. Lucca Lowenberg was the top rebounder with 6. Reese Searcy passed for 4 assists and made 4 steals. Meredith Gilbertson missed another game with concussion symptoms.