Hot shooting from Santa Rosa Junior College sophomore guard Lucca Lowenberg coupled with a cohesive team defense and high pace helped the Bear Cubs pull away from the Modesto Junior College Pirates in the second half of Tuesday night’s game to win 71-53 at the Haehl Pavilion.
Lowenberg shot 5-7 from the 3-point line and finished the game with a team-high 24 points. In what was her last regular season home game of her SRJC basketball career, she put on a shooting clinic.
Halfway through the second quarter, it appeared that Lowenberg tweaked her ankle and had to go to the bench to work with the athletic trainers. She was able to return with less than 2 minutes in the half.
In her short absence, Bear Cubs freshman guard Reese Searcy stepped up and pushed the pace every chance she had. Off rebounds, turnovers and made shots, Searcy brought the ball up the court quickly before the Modesto defense was able to get set. This led to many easy opportunities at the basket for her and her teammates. Searcy finished the game with 14 points, six rebounds and seven assists.
“We felt like all year we can push the ball and we can create some extra opportunities in transition…” said SRJC Head Coach Lacey Campbell. “…[I]t’s not great yet but we’re getting there.”
Despite the lopsided final score, it wasn’t a comfortable win from start to finish for the Bear Cubs. In the first half, Modesto sophomore guard Mary Cotton scored 16 of her team’s 31 points and was impactful on both ends of the court. Her length bothered SRJC at the rim and her high-level ball handling and shooting proved to be hard to stop for the Bear Cubs.
Coach Campbell made sure Cotton saw lots of pressure in the second half. “I thought Maycee, Reese and Meredith did a great job of trying to put pressure on [Cotton], there wasn’t a single person that didn’t step up.” Campbell also mentioned switching matchups around so Modesto’s star couldn’t get too comfortable.
That added focus in the second half on team defense allowed the Bear Cubs to stretch their halftime lead of eight to as high as 21 in the fourth quarter. This cushion gave Campbell the ability to empty the bench and play the team’s sophomores for the last four-plus minutes of their final home game at SRJC.
“It’s important for us because we have so many players and some don’t get very many minutes,” said Campbell. “It meant a lot for them to get a chance to play against a quality opponent so they aren’t only doing it in practice.”
