3C2A Women's Basketball Quarterfinal #2: Underdog Story MiraCosta Advances Past Folsom Lake

MiraCosta plays N4 Fresno City in semifinals on Saturday, 3 p.m.

VISALIA -- Despite starting the 2025-26 season with an amazing 27-game win streak, MiraCosta College still seemed to be trying to earn the respect of a program that had previously been an also-ran in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference. Under first-year head coach Westly Perryman, the Spartans lost their PCAC finale to co-champion Palomar, but then beat the Comets in Round 2 of the SoCal Regionals.

As a No. 3 seed MiraCosta is carrying a competitive edge that has lifted it to great heights especially after knocking off North #2 Folsom Lake, 82-59, in the second quarterfinal of the 3C2A State Women's Basketball Championship on Thursday afternoon.

The Spartans improved to 30-1 while the Falcons (28-3) third straight trip to state ended in similar fashion with a quarterfinal defeat.

MiraCosta's All-State point guard Anayla Anderson answered the call on a double-double of 17 points and 11 assists. Melia Hinojos was a mad bomber off the bench as she rained six 3-pointers for a team-high 18 points. Faith Behrendt also was huge in reserve in contributing 14 points. 

As what Laney did in earlier defeating Irvine Valley, MC matched it in opening a 12-2 lead on a 3-pointer by Faith Behrendt just 4:40 into the contest. The Spartans built it to 24-10 by the end of the first quarter with a long-range basket by Anderson, who was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field for 11 points.

When Folsom Lake appeared to be gaining momentum, cutting it to 27-18 on a 3-pointer by Lexi Peters, the Spartans went on a momentous spurt. MiraCosta put on a shooting show as Hinojos hit back-to-back threes, one from each corner. Chaya Scott followed with a trey of her own, Hinojos drilled another bomb, and then Anderson swished a 15-foot jumper at the buzzer as the Spartans took complete control at 47-20. It was a dizzying 18-2 run by MC.

In the third quarter, Jada Tupou capped a 15-6 run for FLC that sliced it to 56-40, but a short bank and triple by Behrendt again kept MiraCosta's distance in front of the Falcons. 

Leading 63-45 after three periods, MC built the lead back to 23 points on a 3-pointer by Charlotte Dagnino. Folsom Lake battled back to be behind 72-59 on a Ava Schraeder basket. But the Spartans put the dagger in on yet another corner trey by Hinojos, putting the win on ice at 77-59 with 3:22 left. 

Perryman said: "I like being the underdog and I want to be the underdog. It was like that at Grossmont (in 2024-25) when I took a six-win team a year before to 24 wins. And this season, I got the MiraCosta job and we went from eight to 30 wins! Our players have bought in and we're always looking for a way to be better even after a win. What's special is six of our players were with me the last two years as we experience this journey."

For Folsom Lake head coach Ali Mollet, named the NorCal Coach of the Year last night, it's been a three-year period of success for her program, but the results at state not so much.

"It's the curse of the first half these three trips to state," she said. "It's a mental thing because it's like we always figure it out by halftime. I'm still proud of what our team accomplished this season and the last three years."

Folsom Lake was led by the All-State Tupou with 19 points (8-for-11 from the field), Peters' 11 points, and Ursula Chen with 10. The Falcons had a 10-game win streak end.

Release by Robert Lewis, 3C2A Championship SID