By Marcus Tolero/Story by Eric Sun

The City College of San Francisco women's basketball team's season came to end Friday night after losing to the Merced College Blue Devils 63-58 in the California Community College Athletic Association Sweet 16 round.

The Rams led briefly in the first quarter of the game, with their biggest lead coming with 6:50 left in the first quarter up 6-2. Then Merced College went on a 12-0 run and never looked back, and captured the lead.  With nearly five minutes left in the first quarter, the Blue Devils led the Rams 14-6, and eventually closed the quarter up 22-12.

Merced used a full-court press against the Rams, trapping CCSF's guards near mid-court. Merced's defensive approach proved effective against the Rams, who turned over the ball a game-high 19 times.

CCSF came close to capturing back the lead in the second quarter, coming within four points of tying Merced College, who held a 34-30 at the end of the second quarter.

But the Blue Devils continued to hold off the Rams with clutch shooting and ball-hawking defense in the second half. Merced guard Trinity Washington led the Blue Devils on both ends of the court. She led the team in points (15) and steals (3).

Merced's lead jumped to 10 points (57-47) with nearly six minutes remaining. Up to that point in the quarter, the Blue Devils held the Rams to two total points.

Although the Rams attempted to make a comeback in the final minutes, Merced held the lead for the remainder of the game.

CCSF guard Caprice Taylor led the game with 22 points. Guard Anissah Dorsey finished second on the Rams with 10 points.