SRJC 74, Solano College 54
On the Tuesday evening before Thanksgiving the Bear Cubs (4-2) welcomed the Falcons (2-4) of Solano College for a game that was relocated to SRJC to clear the way for the Falcon Women's Volleyball team to host a NorCal play-off contest. Natalia Sanchez scored the first basket of the game on a drive on the Falcons' opening possession. Kaia Eubanks quickly tied the score on a 2-footer off of Shasta Vlasak's assist. Sanchez made another field goal, and then Eubanks drew a shooting foul and sank both free throws. After Tyliyah Grady converted a 3-point play, the Bear Cubs made three shots in a row—Sydney Martin's 2-footer off of Lindsey Arellano's long lob pass, Eubanks' steal and layup, and Ivy Gonzalez's 3-pointer at the 6:05 mark—to jump out in front 11-7. The Falcons answered with an 8-0 run on four points each from Sanchez and Grady to take a 15-11 lead with 4:21 on the clock. The Bear Cubs scored the final six points of the quarter on two free throws by Gonzalez, and two baskets in a row by CeceSolano for a 17-15 advantage.
The Bear Cubs scored the first bucket of the second quarter on Shasta Vlasak's fast break layup at the end of Lindsey Arellano's defensive rebound and long lead pass. Samantha Miller put in a field goal on the Falcons' second shot attempt. The Falcons missed their next shotattempt, Ivy Gonzalez rebounded, and drove all the way down around defenders to bank in the layup. Kaia Eubanks' 2-footer off of Vlasak's assist put the Bear Cubs ahead 23-17 at the 8:06 mark. Kimani Wilburn intercepted a pass and converted the layup. Lindsey Arellano sank a 15-footer after receiving the inside-out pass from Eubanks with 5:25 on the clock. Consecutive baskets by Natalia Sanchez and Tyliyah Grady cut their deficit to 23-25 with 4:19 left. The Bear Cubs again scored the final points of the quarter on two free throws by Gonzalez, her 12-footer,and Caitlin Baldwin's 3-pointer to go into halftime with a 32-23 lead.
The Bear Cubs scored the first six points of the third quarter on Ivy Gonzalez's15-footer, two free throws by Sydney Martin, and Shasta Vlasak's 1-footer after catching a loose ball that was tipped near the basket. Hillary Steinman drew a shooting foul with 7:34 on the clock and sank both free throws, making the Bear Cubs' margin 38-25. The Bear Cubs added six more points on Abigail Tacla's 1-footer off of Sydney Martin's assist, Martin's layup as the fast break trailer with Tacla's assist pass, and Ivy Gonzalez's putback at the 5:15 mark. Twelve seconds later Samantha Miller was fouled and made both free throws. Cece Solano dropped in a shot from just above the free throw line. The Falcons tallied six points in a row on Tyliyah Grady's 3-pointer and Natalia Sanchez' 3-point play. Twelve seconds after that, Sydney Martin cut to the hoop, caught Hailey Webb's assist in stride, and banked in the layup to put the Bear Cubs' lead at 48-33. Lucia Alexander drew a shooting foul and made one free throw with 3:03 left. After Gonzalez drained a 15-footer, Alexander was back to the free throw line with the Bear Cubs over the foul limit and sank both this time. Cece Solano's 6-foot pullup one-hander with 1:27 remaining made the score 52-36. Jhaidyn Reed swished a 3-pointer, and then so did Caitlin Baldwin. Grady accounted for the final five points of the quarter on a 3-point play and a field goal, cutting their deficit to 44-55.
The Bear Cubs missed their first shot of the fourth quarter and then made three in a row—Sydney Martin's 14-footer, Ivy Gonzalez's 3-pointer, and her fade-away from six feet out—to widen their lead to 62-44. Natalia Sanchez was fouled on a shot attempt and made one free throw at the 7:11 mark. The Bear Cubs made their next two shots in a row: Gonzalez's 4-foot fade-away and Kaia Eubanks' fast break layup off of Gonzalez's long pass with 5:56 on the clock. Nineteen seconds later Samantha Miller swished a 3-pointer, and nearly two minutes after that Kimani Wilburn went to the free throw line and made both. On the Bear Cubs' next turn on offense, Cele Urzua caught Betzie Hernandez's pass while standing beyond the arc and drained the 3-pointer. With 1:57 left, Wilburn drew another shooting foul and again made both free throws. Hernandez was on the receiving end of Kaia Eubanks' pass from the high post and sank the 18-footer with 1:30 remaining. Wilburn scored inside, was fouled on the play, but missed the and-one free throw. Kaia Eubanks drove past multiple defenders to bank in the layup with 36 seconds to go. Hernandez added the last point of the contest when she was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made just the third free throw, resulting in a final score of 74-54.
The Falcons came into the game averaging nearly 74 points and over seven 3-pointers per game, while the Bear Cubs were averaging 59 ppg. The Bear Cubs' defense prevented the Falcons from getting easy baskets and limiting them to three 3-pointers. The Bear Cubs reached a season-high 74 points, as 10 players scored. Two Falcons reached double figures in scoring: Tyliyah Grady with 17 and Natalia Sanchez 14.
Three Bear Cubs scored in double figures: Ivy Gonzalez with 24, Kaia Eubanks 12, and Sydney Martin 10. Cece Solano added 8 points, Caitlin Baldwin, who was playing in only her second game after recovering from a foot injury, sank two 3-pointers for 6 points, Shasta Vlasak4 points, Cele Urzua and Betzie Hernandez 3 each, and Lindsey Arellano and Abigail Tacla 2 each. Lindsey Arellano led in rebounding with 9 and assists with 4.