Women's Basketball: Bear Cubs beat San Bernardino, play for Consolation next

Britta Irvine Dribbling
#13 Britta Irivine driving Photo Credit: Guy Mohr

SRJC 48, San Bernardino Valley College 46

             In the second round elimination game of the CCSF Golden Gate Classic, the Bear Cubs (3-4) battled the Wolverines (4-7) of San Bernardino Valley College. Shayla Newman's inside shot got the Bear Cubs on the scoreboard 35 seconds into the game. The Wolverines tied the score 45 seconds later, and then took the lead on a 3-pointer after two-and-a-half minutes of play. Cammie Barsuglia's 3-pointer at the 6:54 mark tied the score at 5-5. A little more than two minutes later, the Wolverines broke the tie with a field goal. Maiya Flores' 3-pointer with 4:17 on the clock briefly gave the Bear Cubs an 8-7 lead The Wolverines shut out the Bear Cubs during the remainder of the quarter and scored two field goals for an 11-8 lead by the end of the period.

            Shayla Newman scored the first basket of the second quarter on a drive after a little over two minutes of play. The Wolverines scored the next two field goals before Newman's short shot at the 4:38 mark made the score 12-15. The Bear Cubs scored nine unanswered points on one free throw and two field goals by Newman and two free throws each by DJ Hayes and Britta Irvine for a 21-15 lead with 32 seconds left. The Wolverines scored inside with 12 seconds to go, and Newman did the same just before the buzzer sounded giving the Bear Cubs a 23-17 halftime lead.

            Neither team scored in the first two minutes of the third quarter. With 7:46 on the clock Maiya Flores drew a shooting foul and made one free throw. The Wolverines answered with a 3-pointer. About a minute later Maddie Strom made one of two free throws, and then the next time down banked in a putback for a 27-20 margin. The Wolverines came back with a 3-pointer and a field goal to close to 25-27. Cammie Barsuglia scored the Bear Cubs' final two points of the quarter with 2:41 left. The Wolverines finished the period with three free throws and a field goal to slip ahead 30-29.

            In the final period the Wolverines put in a field goal and a 3-pointer before Britta Irvine's 3-pointer with 7:15 on the clock. Lizeth Zavala's 3-pointer at the 5:23 mark knotted the score at 35 apiece. Sixteen seconds later the Wolverines broke the tie with a 3-pointer. Maddie Strom's 1-footer got the Bear Cubs within a point. A Wolverines' putback with 4:00 left extended their lead to 40-37. Shayla Newman was fouled as she drove to the basket, then she made the free throw to complete the 3-point play and tie the score at 40 with 3:48 remaining. A Wolverines' drive broke the tie 15 seconds later. Newman again tied the score with an inside shot. Cammie Barsuglia was fouled as she pushed the ball up court and made the first free throw with 1:27 to go. Her second attempt missed, but Newman grabbed the rebound and passed the ball out. Britta Irvine was knocked to the ground, and the official whistled in her favor. She got up slowly, blinked several times, but made both free throws for a 45-42 lead. The Wolverines were able to get the ball in deep and sank the shot with 59 seconds remaining. The Bear Cubs broke the Wolverines' full-court press and worked the ball around. Maiya Flores got the ball on the left side and drove to the hoop. She made the basket while being fouled. She completed the 3-point play to stretch the lead to 48-44 with 38 seconds left. The Wolverines pushed the ball and got an open look, sinking the inside shot with 26 seconds remaining to get to 46-48. The Bear Cubs called a timeout and advanced the ball to their front court. Before the Wolverines could foul, the Bear Cubs drove for an open lay-up but missed the shot. The Wolverines rebounded, took a dribble then called their last timeout with 19 seconds on the clock. They inbounded, hurried the ball full court against some pressure, and got an open baseline shot. The ball bounced off the rim, and the Wolverines had a chance at the putback. This second shot also missed. Newman grabbed the rebound and passed to Maiya Flores. Flores got shoved then the official called her for an offensive foul with two seconds left. The Wolverines inbounded from the baseline, but Britta Irvine tipped the pass. DJ Hayes cradled the loose ball. Before Hayes could be tied up, the Bear Cubs called their final timeout and advanced the ball with one second to go. They passed in and as Barsuglia was trying to control the ball, the Wolverines knocked the ball out of her hands as the buzzer sounded, giving the Bear Cubs a hard-fought 48-46 victory.

            Neither team shot well. The Wolverines were 16 for 51 (31%) from the field and 3 for 10 from the free throw line (30%). The Bear Cubs weren't much better, as they made only 16 out of 48 shots (33%) and 12 out of 24 free throws (50%). The Wolverines used an effective denial defense keying in on Maiya Flores, limiting her to just six shots attempts, well below her average of 14.3 per game.

            Shayla Newman led the Bear Cubs with her third double-double of 18 points and 14 rebounds. Maiya Flores and Britta Irvine both added 7 points each, Cammie Barsuglia 6, Maddie Strom 5, Lizeth Zavala 3, and DJ Hayes 2. Maddie Strom and Cammie Barsuglia each pulled down 7 rebounds. Britta Irvine led in assists with 5.