Women's Basketball: Bear Cubs fall to East LA 63-61

Destiny Grayer driving
#0 Destiny Grayer has 7 assist against East LA.

SRJC 61, East Los Angeles College 63

             In their fourth and final preseason tournament, the Bear Cubs (4-4) made the drive down to City College of San Francisco to take on the Huskies of East Los Angeles College (6-3), who came into the game ranked #9 in the State and #4 in the South and their only losses coming at the hands of teams in the top four in the State. After beginning the game with a turnover and three missed shots, the Bear Cubs got on the scoreboard first when Angel Bernardi drained a 10-footer. Jaelynn Curley then hit a 3-pointer for the Huskies, which was quickly followed by a Kylie Oden 3-pointer and field goal. After a field goal by the Huskies, Oden sank another 3-pointer, Jenny Eggers banked in a 3-footer, and Oden made one of two free throws for a 13-5 lead midway through the quarter. After Oden swished her third 3-pointer with 1:29 left, increasing the lead to 18-7, the East LA coach called his first timeout. Once play resumed, the Huskies' post player, Monica Garcia, drew a shooting foul and made both free throws. Mireya Lopez dropped in a 3-pointer with 48 seconds to go, but Curley hit her own 3-pointer 20 seconds later and an East LA player drew a shooting foul with 0.7 seconds on the clock. She made both to make the Bear Cubs' lead 21-14 at the end of the quarter.

            Monica Garcia scored inside on the Huskies' first possession of the second quarter. Destiny Grayer's 3-pointer put the Bear Cubs ahead 24-16. The Huskies scored the next six points before Mireya Lopez's 3-pointer at the 6:27 mark. The Huskies scored five more unanswered points to tie the contest at 27 with 5:52 on the clock. Britta Irvine sank two field goals in a row in the next two minutes. The Huskies tied it at 31 with two free throws by Garcia and a field goal. Madeline Strom finished the Bear Cubs' scoring with two field goals in a row, and Garcia hit a post shot with 28 seconds left to cut the Bear Cubs' lead to 35-33 going into halftime.

            The Huskies scored first in the third quarter to tie the contest 91 seconds in. The Bear Cubs scored six unanswered points on a Kylie Oden 3-pointer, a Mireya Lopez free throw, and a Jenny Eggers inside shot. The Huskies made two baskets before Kylie Oden's 3-pointer at the 5:43 mark made the score 44-40. Curley sank her fifth 3-pointer and Garcia a 10-footer to help the Huskies take the lead 47-44 with two minutes left. Jenny Eggers broke the scoreless stretch on a post more with 1:48 remaining. Curley made her sixth 3-pointer 25 seconds later to put her team ahead 50-46. The Bear Cubs ended the period with three straight baskets--two field goals by Destiny Grayer and Kylie Oden's sixth 3-pointer--to retake the lead 53-50 by the end of the period.

            Neither team was able to put any more points on the scoreboard during the first two minutes of the fourth quarter. Garcia drew a shooting foul with 7:50 on the clock and made one free throw. Eighteen seconds later Oden tallied the Bear Cubs' first two points. The Huskies went on an 8-0 run, including two more 3-pointers by Curley, to jump out in front 59-55 at the 5:20 mark. Mireya Lopez sank a shot from a step inside the free throw line 23 second later. Both teams missed shots, and then with 3:15 showing on the clock, Oden got tangled in a scramble for a jump ball and turned her ankle. After being attended to by the trainer, she had to be helped off the court while grimacing in pain. With 1:22 left the Huskies drained a 3-pointer for a 62-57 margin. Destiny Grayer and Jenny Eggers hit back-to-back field goals to pull within one at 61-62 with 31.4 seconds to go. Post player Dominique Godbolt drew a foul with 13.4 seconds to play. She made the first free throw but not the second. The Bear Cubs rebounded and called a timeout, down by two. After inbounding, Jenny Eggers attempted a 3-pointer. Garcia blocked the shot but in trying to grab the loose ball stepped out of bounds. The Bear Cubs called their final timeout with 7.2 seconds remaining. When played resumed, they got the ball inside to a post player, but her shot bounced off the rim and Godbolt rebounded and was fouled with just 1.2 seconds left. She missed both free throws, but the Bear Cubs only had enough time to throw an 80-foot desperation shot that fell way short, giving the Huskies a 63-61 victory.

            The Bear Cubs made 45% (14 for 31) of their first half shots but only 33% (11 for 33) in the second. The Bear Cubs shot only 6 free throws and made 2 of them. The Huskies took 16 free throws, making 9.

            Jaelynn Curley, who came into the contest averaging two made 3-pointers per game, finished with a total of 8, as she led all scorers with 26 points. Monica Garcia scored 16 points, including 6 out of 8 from the free throw line.

            Kylie Oden, who made 6 out of 10 3-point attempts, led the Bear Cubs in scoring with 23 points. Destiny Grayer and Mireya Lopez each scored 9 points. Jenny Eggers added 8, Britta Irvine 6, Madeline Strom 4, and Angel Bernardi 2. Britta Irvine was the top rebounder with 10, and Jenny Eggers pulled down 9. Destiny Grayer passed for a season-high 7 assists. Jenny Eggers led in steals with 4.