SRJC 69, Cosumnes River College 42
The Bear Cubs (12-7, 3-3) slogged through heavy Friday afternoon traffic to Sacramentto to take on the Hawks (1-8- 1-6) of Cosumnes River College. Tal Webb scored the first two points of the contest on a fast break layup after catching Trinity Hawkins' long pass. Ninety-six seconds later Tal tipped an offensive rebound to Lizeth Zavala, who swished the 3-footer. Malia Clark's field goal got the Hawks on the scoreboard with 6:56 on the clock. After Hawkins sank a baseline 18-footer for a 6-2 lead, Clark made another basket at the 6:07 mark. Hawkins converted a steal into two points, and Alex Ditizio hit a 6-footer runner with 3:36 left to put the Bear Cubs in front 10-4. The Hawks added one free throw and a field goal by Chelsea Shirley-Ohashi, while the Bear Cubs missed seven shots and only tallied two free throws by Ashleigh Barr to end the quarter with a 12-7 lead.
Trinity Hawkins scored on a drive to start the second quarter. Rose Nevin dropped in one free throw, and about a minute later, Alexia Hufana made a basket for the Hawks. Beginning with Ashleigh Barr's 2-footer at the 6:26 mark, the Bear Cubs made 7 out of their next 8 shots, including 2 by Ciarah Michalik, one more by Barr, and four by Kierra Johnson, to go into halftime ahead 32-12.
Chelsea Shirley-Ohashi scored first in the third quarter. Lizeth Zavala hit two baskets in a row—the first a layup after making a steal and the second a 12-footer. Shirley-Ohashi scored another field goal, and then Tal Webb played give-and-go with Ashleigh Barr to bank in the close shot, putting the lead at 38-16. Malia Clark swished three shots in a row from beyond the arc, as the Bear Cubs countered with a drive by Ciarah Michalik and a 3-pointer by Lizbeth Zavala with 5:22 on the clock. During the remainder of the period, Shirley-Ohashi made a basket inside plus a 3-point play and Clark two free throws. For the Bear Cubs Alex Ditizio sank a 3-pointer, Michalik made one free throw, and Rose Nevin hit two shots from close range to end the quarter with a 51-32 advantage.
Ashleigh Barr banked in a 2-footer on an assist from Lizeth Zavala 18 seconds into the fourth quarter. Over two minutes later, Tal Webb put back a miss from in front of the hoop. Trinity Hawkins scored on a drive and Kierra Johnson on an assist from Tal Webb on a baseline inbounds play to extend the lead to 58-32 with 5:40 on the clock. Two minutes later, on another baseline inbounds play, Alex Ditizio cut down the key and caught the assist pass from Johnson in stride, banking in the uncontested layup. Suraya Cabrera finally broke the Hawks' scoreless streak with a 3-pointer at the 3:32 mark. Johnson hit a step-back 12-footer and Ditizio a 3-pointer before Melanie Mar sank a 3-pointer with 1:56 left. Alex Ditizio's 3-pointer with 1:10 to go completed the Bear Cubs' scoring. Briley Jordet put in two field goals in the remaining time to make the final score 69-42 in favor of the Bear Cubs.
The Bear Cubs got off to a sluggish start and struggled to score in the first quarter, making only 5 out of 17 shots (29%). After starting the second quarter with a basket and missing their next 5 shots, the Bear Cubs then made 8 out of 9. In the second half the Bear Cubs made 52% of their shots (16 out of 31). The Hawks outscored the Bear Cubs in the third quarter 20-19 but otherwise had trouble against their opponent's defense. Malia Clark finished with a game-high 17 points and Chelsea Shirley-Ohashi with 11.
Kierra Johnson led the Bear Cubs with 13 points and 6 rebounds. Alex Ditizio, who missed the previous three games due to COVID, returned to action to also score 13 points, including 3 3-pointers. Ashleigh Barr and Trinity Hawkins each added 8 points, Ciarah Michalik 7, Tal Webb and Lizeth Zavala 6 each, Rose Nevin 5, and Lizbeth Zavala 3. Trinity Hawkins also pulled down 6 rebounds. Nine Bear Cubs had at least one assist, as they totaled 15.