Women's Basketball: Solid defense but Bear Cubs cant score enough against CCSF

Bear Cub bench excited after a score

SRJC 39, City College of San Francisco 54

             The Bear Cubs were scheduled to host two nights in a row in their 4-team Caren Franci Crossover, but a campus-wide power failure forced the cancellation of the first night of games. With no time to make up the missed round of games, the first round opponents played each other on the second night and the second round was dropped. The Bear Cubs (2-3), in their first home game of the season, took on the City College of San Francisco Rams (4-1). The Rams won the tip, and the Bear Cubs' defense nearly forced a 30-second clock violation, but visitors drained a 3-pointer just before the shot clock expired. The Bear Cubs missed their first seven shots before Amaya Macandog sank one with 6:31 on the clock to make the score 2-3. The Rams added a field goal and another 3-pointer while the Bear Cubs committed turnovers. Hanna Morris took the Bear Cubs' ninth shot of the game and sank 12-footer at the 3:16 mark. Lani Lincoln's 4-foot spin shot closed the gap to 6-8. A minute after a basket by the Rams from inside the key, Lincoln's 3-pointer with 1:12 left turned out to be her team's final points of the quarter, while the Rams put in two more field goals to hold a 14-9 lead by the end of the period.

            The Bear Cubs started the second quarter with the ball, and Kierra Johnson drew a shooting foul then made both free throws. The Rams countered with a field goal, and then Lani Lincoln made a steal and drove the length of the court to score the layup. Johnson swished a 12-footer at the 8:06 mark to pull within one point, 15-16. The Rams made a field goal and one of two free throws before Trinity Hawkins scored on a drive with 6:22 on the clock. After Lizbeth Zavala's successful 10-footer nearly two minutes later, the Bear Cubs were behind 19-21. The Rams then went on a 13-0 run, including three 3-pointers, as the Bear Cubs missed all seven of their shots and made a couple of turnovers. The Bear Cubs inbounded under their own basket with five seconds left in the quarter, and Kierra Johnson sank the shot from the top corner of the free throw lane to make their halftime deficit 21-34.

            The Rams scored the first 12 points of the third quarter to sprint out to a 46-21 lead with 3:31 on the clock. Meanwhile the Bear Cubs committed eight turnovers, three of which resulted in Rams' layups, and missed five shots. Trinity Hawkins finally broke the drought when she sank a 10-footer at the 3:16 mark. During the remainder of the period, the Bear Cubs turned the ball three more times, but held the Rams scoreless, while Kassi Agapoff swished a 3-pointer with 1:14 left and Kierra Johnson scored inside to make the score 28-46.

            Kierra Johnson recorded the first three points of the fourth quarter when she made one of two free throws on the Bear Cubs' first possession and put back her own miss the next time down. The Rams completed a 3-point play about a minute later and scored a field goal two minutes after that for a 51-31 advantage. The Bear Cubs put together an 8-0 run on one free throw by Hanna Morris, Kierra Johnson's 12-footer, Lani Lincoln's drive, and her subsequent 3-pointer to get to 39-51 with 2:09 left. The Rams scored the final three points of the contest on a field goal and one free throw, and then ran out the clock on their 54-39 win.

            Except for a couple of short stretches of time, the Bear Cubs played a good defensive game. However, on offense their 24 turnovers resulted in easy scoring opportunities for their opponents and missed ones for themselves. The Bear Cubs only attempted 47 shots, making 16 (35%). The Rams took 67 shots and made 22 (33%). The Rams spread their scoring around, but only Errayanna Hatfield scored in double figures with 11 points.

            Kierra Johnson led the Bear Cubs with 13 points and 9 rebounds. Lani Lincoln contributed 12 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists. Trinity Hawkins scored 4 points but grabbed 8 rebounds and blocked 3 shots. Kassi Agapoff and Hanna Morris each added 3 points, and Amaya Macandog and Lizbeth Zavala 2 each.