Palomar maintains top spot in CCCWBCA poll; Orange Coast climbs to No. 2

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SAN LUIS OBISPO - As the season enters conference play for most programs, the California Community College Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (CCCWBCA) state poll has Palomar College (San Marcos, Calif.) unanimously leading the pack. Orange Coast College is second. The No. 3 slot goes to Santa Rosa Junior College. Fourth place belongs to Butte College with Fresno City College landing fifth. 

Palomar and Fresno swept a crossover at Moorpark College. Palomar defeated unranked Pasadena City College, then overcame No. 7 San Joaquin Delta College  59-47. Fresno squeaked by 11th-ranked Mt. San Antonio College 68-61. The No. 8 host lost 70-60. No. 19 Irvine Valley College trailed the Rams by 14 at the buzzer.

Irvine Valley was dropped by 40 at Palomar’s hands. Then, the Comets held a crossover to complete their pre-conference schedule. Santa Ana College and Riverside City College could not come within 30 points of 14-0 Palomar.

Orange Coast was challenged by No. 18 Long Beach City College, 71-62, before heading to San Diego City College for a pair of contests. Unranked Southwestern College excelled to a 10-point loss before host SDCC lagged behind by 32, an improvement over their first meeting with OCC.

East Los Angeles College hosted Orange Coast in the Okawa Classic crossover. OCC and Moorpark swept their competition. Orange Coast has the best record in CCCAA at 16-0 after wins over No. 15 (South) College of the Canyons, Citrus, and West Los Angeles College.

Santa Rosa began the Fresno City Crossover with a win over No. 12 (South) Merced College, but lost 75-56 to Fresno.

The Bear Cubs recovered the following weekend at City College of San Francisco. They impressed with an 18-point win over Butte in a tough opening-round game. No. 10 San Francisco came eight points from the semifinal upset. Sequoias lost 50-41 in the championship match. Butte took fifth place, topping No. 16 Sierra College by six.

Santa Rosa won their first two Big 8 Conference contests before being upended. Despite losing to San Joaquin Delta, 62-53, they hung onto the top rank for North Region. They did fall one spot in the CCCWBCA state poll.

Prior to the San Francisco tournament, Butte had a road win against No. 15 Folsom Lake College. A postponement pushed the next game to a 45-point margin at Yuba College.

Fresno warmed up for Central Valley Conference with wins over Los Angeles Pierce College and Skyline College.

Conference play ends mid-February. Playoffs run from late February to the second weekend of March where West Hills College Lemoore will host the CCCAA Basketball State Championships. Games will be March 11 to 13. The CCCWBCA Sophomore Showcase four-year recruiting event is slotted for Saturday morning. It is not certified for NCAA Division I programs.

(Greg Murphy, CCWBCA)