SRJC 76, Sacramento City College 43
The Bear Cubs (12-1) were back on the road to Sacramento to play the Panthers (1-9) of Sacramento City College. The Bear Cubs made their first three shots—Ciarah Michalik's layup off the pass from Lucca Lowenberg on the tip-off, Ashleigh Barr's 2-footer off of Lanie Lincoln's assist, and Lincoln's 3-pointer—plus two free throws by Meredith Gilbertson to prompt the Panthers' coach to call a timeout at the 8:30 mark and his team down 0-9. Lincoln drained another 3-pointer, and Lowenberg made a steal and layup before Malia Clark scored the Panthers' first points on a pair of free throws with 6:50 on the clock. The Bear Cubs tallied 14 unanswered points during the next four and half minutes, including one 3-pointer each by Michalik and Lincoln, a 2-footer by Barr, a 1-footer and a 10-footer by Sheriene Arikat, and Rose Nevin's putback, to jump out to a 28-2 lead. In the final 2:20 of the quarter, Clark made one free throw and Hailee Hackett a basket, while Ashleigh Barr sank one free throw, to put the Bear Cubs in front 29-5 by the end of the period.
Amirah Rode-McKissack took the first shot of the second quarter and made the 2-pointer. Lanie Lincoln attempted the Bear Cubs' second shot and swished her fourth 3-pointer of the contest. The Panthers scored the next five points before Lucca Lowenberg hit a 3-pointer with 5:54 on the clock. The Panthers scored a field goal and 50 seconds later, Ciarah Michalik intercepted a pass near the opponent's free throw line and drove down to bank in the layup. Again the Panthers score five unanswered points before Sheriene Arikat's layup off of Michalik's assist with 2:53 left. Neither team scored again until Ashleigh Barr was fouled with 14 seconds remaining and made one free throw for a 40-19 halftime lead.
Ashleigh Barr scored the first two points of the third quarter on a 3-footer and Ciarah Michalik's assist after about a minute of play. The Panthers added the next three points on one free throw by Clark and a basket by Hackett. Barr's 3-point play after catching the pass from Lanie Lincoln near the hoop was registered at the 7:33 mark. Hackett sank two free throws, and so did Michalik. Clark made a basket and Rode-McKissack a 3-pointer. Ashleigh Barr hit a cutting Alex Ditizio with a pass and she banked in the layup without needing to dribble. Nadia Torres-Davila drew a shooting foul and made one free throw with 2:09 left. Twenty-four seconds later Sheriene Arikat scored on a drive. The next time down she was fouled on a shot. The Panthers' coach was assessed with a Technical Foul when the official caught him stepping onto the court in reaction to the foul call. Arikat shot four free throws, making all of them with 1:24 left. Arikat scored on a baseline drive with 40 seconds remaining, and Rode-McKissack swished her second 3-pointer with 28 seconds to go. The Bear Cubs inbounded the ball from their baseline with 0.7 seconds on the clock. Barr caught the pass and immediately released the shot as she was being fouled with 0.2 seconds left. She missed the first free throw but made the second for a 58-33 lead at the end of the period.
The Bear Cubs started the fourth quarter with an 11-0 run on Lanie Lincoln's 3-pointer, two free throws and a fast break layup by Ashleigh Barr off of Sheriene Arikat's assist, and a fast break layup by Arikat and her 2-footer off of Barr's assist. The Panthers scored the next four points, beginning with Hackett's single free throw with 6:52 on the clock, her scoring drive, and one free throw by Torres-Davila. Meredith Gilbertson sank a 12-footer with 4:32 left. About a minute later Torres-Davila again went to the free throw line and this time made both. Twenty-two seconds later, Ciarah Michalik swished a 3-pointer. Clark tallied four points in a row on a pair of free throws and a basket. Ashleigh Barr's 2-footer off the assist from Arikat completed the scoring in the Bear Cubs' 76-43 win.
The Bear Cubs' got their offense going quickly, making 10 out of 22 shots (45%) in the first quarter, while their defense stifled the Panthers' offense. Due to injuries, the Panthers only had seven healthy players. They got off to a slow start but outscored the Bear Cubs in the second quarter 14-9. Two Panthers scored in double-figures—Malia Clark with 16 and Amirah Rode-McKissack with 10.
Sheriene Arikat raised her season-high in scoring to 18 points tonight. Ashleigh Barr registered her sixth double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Lanie Lincoln, who made all four of her first 3-point attempts, finished with five of them for a season-high 15 points. Ciarah Michalik added 12 points, Lucca Lowenberg 5, Meredith Gilbertson 4, and Alex Ditizio and Rose Nevin 2 each. Rose Nevin and Meredith Gilbertson each pulled down 9 rebounds. Ciarah Michalik passed for 5 assists. Meredith Gilbertson made 5 steals.