SRJC 64, Cerritos College 66
In the second round of the College of the Sequoias Tournament, the Bear Cubs (2-2) were matched up against the Falcons (8-3) of Cerritos College. The Falcons drew a shooting foul on their first possession and made one free throw. On the Bear Cubs' first turn on offense Britta Irvine was fouled on a drive and made one free throw. The Falcons then made two field goals in a row. Kylie Oden's 3-pointer and Jenny Eggers' single free throw tied the score with 7:24 on the clock. A 3-pointer each by Eggers and Irvine and a field goal by Eggers put the Bear Cubs ahead 13-9 with 5:38 left. A 3-pointer by Destiny Grayer with 49 seconds remaining and an answering Falcon 3-pointer 15 seconds later left the Bear Cubs ahead 20-17 at the end of the quarter.
Jenny Eggers scored first in the second quarter, but the Falcons' post player countered with a 3-point play. Kylie Oden's 3-pointer and two field goals by Angel Bernardi increased their lead to 29-20 at the 5:16 mark. Cammie Barsuglia's 3-pointer and Mireya Lopez's field goal with 3:48 on the clock stretched the advantage to 34-23. The Falcons went on a 7-0 run before Mireya Lopez sank two free throws with 20 seconds to go. A Falcon made one of two free throws with 7 seconds left to cut the Bear Cubs' lead to 36-31 by halftime.
The Falcons had the ball to start the third quarter and dropped in a 3-pointer. The Bear Cubs missed their first two shots then Jenny Eggers hit back to back inside shots for a 40-34 lead two minutes into the period. Eggers scored again a minute later, then the Bear Cubs went scoreless for nearly four minutes until Destiny Grayer hit a 3-pointer and 20 seconds later made one out of two free throws at the 2:40 mark to tie the contest at 46 apiece. Eighty seconds later Angel Bernardi dropped in a 3-pointer, and with 48 seconds to go Grayer was fouled on a drive and made both free throws. The Falcons made their own 3-pointer with 17 seconds remaining to leave the Bear Cubs ahead 51-49 at the end of the period.
Ninety seconds into the fourth quarter the Falcons knotted the contest at 51. Kylie Oden's field goal 50 seconds later put the Bear Cubs back ahead by two. The Bear Cubs went the next 7:06 without making another basket, only adding two free throws by Mireya Lopez and two by Angel Bernardi, before Oden hit a short shot to get the Bear Cubs within two points at 59-61. With 21 seconds left one of the officials called a two-hands hand-check foul on Angel Bernardi (her fifth foul), which sent a Falcon player to the free throw line to shoot two bonus shots. She made both free throws for a 4-point Falcon lead. Oden got the ball and drove down the right side of the key and scored over defenders with 13 seconds to go. After their timeout, the Falcons inbounded from half court and the Bear Cubs applied pressure. Britta Irvine knocked the ball free and pushed it towards Destiny Grayer. Oden rushed over and grabbed the ball from Grayer as she was trying to gain control of it. Oden drove to the hoop and drew the shooting foul. She confidently made both free throws to tie the score at 63 with 4 seconds left. Both teams were out of timeouts, so the Falcons inbounded and walked the ball up court, appearing to be content to settle with going into overtime with just 4 seconds on the clock. But inexplicably, Jesenia Rendon was able to get off a seemingly relaxed shot from 18 feet outside the 3-point line at the buzzer, and it swished through, giving the Falcons a 66-63 victory.
The Bear Cubs made 45% of their shots (13 for 29) in the first half, but only 33% (8 for 24) in the second half. The Falcons made 26% (9 for 35) in the first half and 36% (13 for 36) in the second. Both teams made eight 3-pointers. Four Falcons scored in double figures.
Jenny Eggers led the Bear Cubs in scoring with 16 points. Kylie Oden had her second double-double of the young season with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Destiny Grayer and Angel Bernardi each tallied 9 points. Britta Irvine and Mireya Lopez each scored 6 points, and Cammie Barsuglia swished a single 3-pointer. Bernardi grabbed 9 rebounds, and Grayer led in assists with 4.