
SRJC 83, Sacramento City College 69
For their first game after the winter break, the Bear Cubs (11-6, 2-3) welcomed the Panthers (6-12, 1-5) of Sacramento City College to Haehl Pavilion. The Panthers jumped out to a 12-1 lead after four minutes of play, with Shasta Vlasak's free throw at the 8:01 mark the only point for the hosts. Caitlin Baldwin came off the bench and swished two 3-pointers to make the Bear Cubs' deficit 7-15 with 2:47 on the clock. After Joyce Mulumba's putback, Ivy Gonzalez also did the same on her end of the court. Kyshanti King sank two free throws, and then Kaia Eubanks banked in a 1-footer off of Caitlin Baldwin's assist with eight seconds left. King drained a long 3-pointer from above the free throw circle at the buzzer to give the Panthers a 22-11 lead.
The Bear Cubs started the second quarter with a 17-0 run in the first five minutes—Lindsey Arellano's 3-pointer, Cece Solano's reverse layup, Ivy Gonzalez's 8-foot pullup jumper, her 3-pointer, Arellano's layup, Gonzalez's two technical foul free throws, and her 3-pointer—to take a 28-22 lead. Riley Taclas sank a deep 3-pointer with 3:07 on the clock to get the Panthers within three points. Caitlin Baldwin answered with her third 3-pointer, and then Keilah Ezaddin hit a 3-pointer. Arellano's 3-pointer with 1:31 left made the Bear Cubs' lead 34-28. Kyshanti King put in the last basket of the half thirty-three seconds later, cutting the Bear Cubs' advantage to 34-30.
Kaia Eubanks scored the first points of the third quarter on a 3-point play when she caught Shasta Vlasak's pass next to the hoop and banked in the 1-footer while getting fouled. After Kyshanti King swished her third 3-pointer, the Bear Cubs put together an 11-1 run—Vlasak's cut to the basket and assist pass from Sydney Martin, Martin's drive, Vlasak's 3-pointer, Ivy Gonzalez' 18-footer, and Lindsey Arellano's 10-footer—to widen their lead to 48-34 with 4:56 on the clock. The Panthers responded with a 13-3 run as they closed the gap to 47-51 with 1:02 left. Ivy Gonzalez swished a 3-pointer five seconds before the buzzer to put the Bear Cubs ahead 54-47.
Betzie Hernandez hit an 18-footer on the Bear Cubs' opening possession of the fourth quarter. Kyshanti King quickly sank her fifth 3-pointer. Ivy Gonzalez pulled down a defensive rebound near the Panthers' basket, dribbled the length of the court past defenders, and banked in the layup at the 8:19 mark. Riley Taclas made her second 3-pointer and then Kamaya Jones a field goal to get within 55-58. Lindsey Arellano dropped in a 2-footer off of Hailey Webb's assist, Hailee Hackett swished a 3-pointer, Webb also drained one from beyond the arc, Sydney Martin drove down the right side of the lane and flipped in an underhand shot, getting the Bear Cubs' lead up to 65-58 by the midpoint of the quarter. After Arellano made one free throw, Kyshanti King drove past defenders and banked in the layup. Kaia Eubanks' drive and Arellano's full court layup after grabbing the defensive rebound was followed by another basket by King. Hailey Webb swished a 3-pointer, Hackett matched it, then Webb sank her third from three range, stretching the Bear Cubs' margin to 76-65 with 2:31 on the clock. Joyce Mulumba scored inside twenty seconds later. Arellano again rebounded a Panthers' miss and dribbled the length of the court to put in the layup. Gonzalez drew a shooting foul and made one free throw. Kaia Eubanks sank a 12-footer with 58 seconds left to widen the Bear Cubs' lead to 81-67. Eleven seconds later Mulumba put in the Panthers' final basket. Webb banked in a 1-footer off of Arellano's assist to complete the scoring in the Bear Cubs' 83-69 win.
The Bear Cubs only made 4 out of 17 shots (24%) in the first quarter to end up behind by 11 points, but outscored the Panthers 23-8 in the second period. The Bear Cubs built up leads only to see the Panthers come roaring back. The hosts made ten out of eleven shots in the final six-and-a-half minutes of the game to give themselves some breathing room and prevent the Panthers from overtaking them. Three Panthers reached double figures: Kyshanti King, who led all scorers with 29, Joyce Mulumba 11, and Hailee Hackett 10.
Ivy Gonzalez, who was closely guarded all game and sometimes triple-teamed, still managed to score 22 points. Lindsey Arellano played her best all-around game, scoring a career-high 17 points, pulling down a career-high 11 rebounds, passing for 6 assists, and only making two turnovers. Hailey Webb and Caitlin Baldwin each reached career highs in points with 11 and 10, respectively. Shasta Vlasak added 6 points, Sydney Martin 4, Cece Solano and Betzie Hernandez 2 each. Hailey Webb grabbed 8 rebounds and Ivy Gonzalez 7. Sydney Martin led in assists with 7