The Bear Cubs Women’s basketball team took a disheartening loss at home against the San Joaquin Delta Mustangs Feb 2.
Despite losing its last game, San Joaquin Delta had a better record overall than Santa Rosa this season at 17-4. The Bear Cubs came into the game holding a record of 14-8 after they grabbed a win in their last game. They looked to build a strong start and get a winning streak going.
Starters for Santa Rosa featured Guards Reese Searcy and Lucca Lowenberg in the backcourt, with the frontcourt being regulated by forwards Maycee Hunter, Ivy Gonzalez and Praise Nigimar.
The game was close in the first quarter; both teams went back and forth. Gonzalez grabbed Santa Rosa’s last lead of the game with an impressive four-point play just five minutes into the first quarter.
With two minutes to go in the first, the game was tied 17-17, until San Joaquin Delta guard Serenity Santos scored 7 unanswered points to close the quarter with Delta ahead 24-17.
The game saw a few trends continue from the end of the first quarter all the way until the end of the fourth. San Joaquin Delta’s remarkable accuracy from behind the arc was huge throughout, while the Bear Cubs’ team chemistry was noticeably not as fluid as they’ve looked in the past.
San Joaquin Delta played with a certain commanding fire to them, pressing early and often, which led them to committing more fouls than Santa Rosa in the process.They absolutely dominated the game through excellent rebounding and shooting from distance.
“They hit a lot of threes. They don’t normally shoot that well, but we also didn’t make them uncomfortable,” said SRJC head coach Lacey Campbell. “We gotta be in a position where we can close out enough to at least make them feel our presence.”
With Delta playing unphased while Santa Rosa struggled to match the pace, the second quarter saw San Joaquin extend its lead by a sizable margin, scoring 19 while the Bear Cubs only managed 10, sending them into halftime with a score of 43-27 in Delta’s favor.
After halftime, Santa Rosa looked motivated in warmups, but once the game started, it was more of the same script. Delta Guard Kiara Council looked unstoppable from the three point line. She came off the bench and tallied 28 points by the end of the night, the top scorer of the game.
Council wasn’t the only player putting up big numbers on her team. Guards Senia Moore and Serenity Santos also put up 21 and 17 points respectively.
Santa Rosa guard JJ Martinez showed some signs of a last-minute turnaround, but the Mustangs were able to comfortably keep the Bear Cubs’ advances at bay, ending the game with a score of 87-50.
There were a few notable solid performances for the Bear Cubs; Searcy had 11 points and multiple steals, while Lowenberg and Gonzalez also both finished the night with 9 points.
Obviously a tough loss for the Bear Cubs to take, but one that Campbell hopes will yield some positive learning experiences. “They’re tough, they’re aggressive, they’re trying to make you play a different way than you normally do,” she said. “I just think we weren’t executing as a whole. We were doing it individually, and that didn’t work, and it seemed like we really just weren’t all on the same page.”
The Bear Cubs look to return to winning ways as they clash against the Consumnes River Hawks on Tuesday, Feb. 6 at home.
