No. 7 Mt. San Jacinto starts and finishes strong in nonconference win over Victor Valley, 82-61

CCCAA Women's Basketball: Scoreboard l Standings l Rankings

SAN JACINTO - The No., 7 Mt. San Jacinto College women's basketball team picked up a non-conference win over a conference opponent on Monday afternoon as it outlasted visiting Victor Valley, 82-61.

The two teams were meeting for the second time in just 12 days with this one being a non-conference contest due to the cancelation of the Palo Verde women's program.  There wasn't a lot of rhythm to the game as 56 fouls were called and the teams combined to shoot 86 free throws in the game.

The Eagles did manage to out score the Rams in each quarter as they built a lead of 16-9 after the first period and extended the lead to 40-29 by halftime.  The game stayed close through the third at 65-52, but the Eagles were able to finally put the game out of reach in the final 5 minutes.  

Haylei Janssens recorded another double double, her 16th of the season, with a game high 20 points and a game best 13 rebounds.  Haley Suarez had a season high 18 points for the Eagles as she connected on 5 of 9 field goal attempts and 6 of 7 free throws.  Deja Blue finished the game with 11 points and De'Adra Ross scored 8 points and pulled in 9 rebounds despite both playing limited minutes due to foul trouble.  Isabel Draheim came off the bench to add 7 points in the victory.

The win improves the Eagles overall record on the season to 18-2, the Rams fell to 10-10.  MSJC will be on the road both Wednesday and Saturday to close out the week.  Wednesday the Eagles travel to San Bernardino Valley for a 5 pm game, Saturday they will be at Copper Mountain for a 1 pm tip-off.  Both games are part of doubleheaders with the men's team.

(Mt. San Jacinto College Athletics)