Women's Basketball:Sac City holds the Bear Cubs down, SRJC falls 56-59

#0 Destiny Grayer shoots a jump shot

            Tuesday the Bear Cubs (5-6, 9-12) made the trip to Sacramento City College hoping to play better against the Panthers (5-6, 8-13) than they did 26 days ago when they lost to them at home by 12 points. They started the contest with an 8-0 run on two 3-pointers by Kylie Oden and a putback by Jenny Eggers. Following a Sac City timeout, Brandy Huffhines' field goal with 5:32 on the clock made their deficit 2-8. Nine seconds later Angel Bernardi banked in a putback while getting fouled. She made the free throw for an 11-2 lead. Bernardi's steal and successful layup at the 3:30 mark made the margin 15-4. The Panthers scored their final two points of the quarter 22 seconds later. Jenny Eggers' 3-pointer with 1:22 left completed the scoring and gave them an 18-6 lead at then end of the quarter.

            The Panthers sank two consecutive 3-pointers in the first 90 seconds of the second quarter. Nearly a minute later Kylie Oden scored on a drive. The Panthers made a field goal and a 3-pointer before Angel Bernardi sank two free throws with 5:26 on the clock. The Panthers added one free throw and another 3-pointer to pull within a point, 21-22, with 3:48 left. Destiny Grayer then scored five points in a row on a 3-pointer and a drive into the middle for a 27-21 advantage at the 2:24 mark. The Panthers ended the quarter with a field goal and a 3-pointer to go into halftime behind by just one point, 26-27.

            Destiny Grayer kept her hot streak going to start the third quarter by sinking two 3-pointers and a scoring drive in the first three minutes to stretch their lead to 35-31. The Panthers drained two unanswered 3-pointers to go in front 37-35 with 4:05 on the clock. Madeline Strom made the Bear Cubs' final two points of the quarter on a fall-away post shot 17 seconds later. The Panthers finished off the scoring with a field goal, two free throws, and a 3-pointer at the buzzer to jump out to a 44-37 lead at the end of thee quarter.

            Jenny Eggers drew a shooting foul 64 seconds into the fourth quarter and made one free throw. The Panthers made a field goal, and with 7:14 on the clock Kylie Oden cut across the key and caught Angel Bernardi's assist pass to get to 40-46. The Panthers then swished a 3-pointer. Jenny Eggers sank two field goals in a row, the second after making a steal above the top of the Panthers' key and dribbling down and banking in the shot, despite nearly losing the ball, to get to 44-49. Following a Panthers' field goal, Kylie Oden scored on an inbounds play in front of the basket and then swished a deep 3-pointer the next trip down, making the score 49-51 with 4:48 left. The Bear Cubs were over the foul limit, so when Brandy Huffhines drew a foul instead of a 5-second call, she went to the free throw line and made both. Destiny Grayer and Kylie Oden scored back-to-back field goals on drives around defenders to tie the score at 53 with 2:47 remaining. Huffhines made one of two free throws 45 seconds later. With 48 seconds left on the clock, Huffhines outfoxed the Bear Cubs defenders and drove in for an uncontested layup for a 56-53 advantage. Following a Bear Cubs' miss, they fouled Huffhines, who made both free throws to extend their lead to 58-53 with 36 seconds to go. Britta Irvine, who was playing her first game since January 9th after recovering from concussion symptoms, drained a 3-pointer with 8 seconds left to get to 56-58. The Bear Cubs immediately fouled once the Panthers inbounded. Huffhines went back to the free throw line where she made the first but not the second. The Bear Cubs rebounded and called a timeout. They inbounded to Kylie Oden, who was fouled before she could get ready to shoot. It was just the Panthers' fourth team foul, so the Bear Cubs inbounded with 3 seconds but couldn't get off a shot, leaving them with the 56-59 loss.

            The Panthers made 20 baskets, but 10 of them were from beyond the arc. Eight of the Bear Cubs' 22 baskets were for 3. The Panthers were 9 for 16 from the free throw line, while the Bear Cubs only shot 7 of them, making 4. Brandy Huffhines led all scorers with 23 points. Jazmine Garcia came off the bench and made two field goals and four 3-pointers for 16 points.

            Kylie Oden led the Bear Cubs with 19 points. Destiny Grayer made 3 out of 5 2-point shots and 3 out of 4 3-pointers for 15 points. Jenny Eggers added 10 points, Angel Bernardi 7, Britta Irvine 3, and Madeline Strom 2. Bernardi was the top rebounder with 9.