After each team finished at .500 last season, both Santa Rosa Junior College men’s and women’s basketball teams look to get back to the playoffs during the 2015-16 season.
Last season, the men went 14-14 overall and 7-7 in conference play. They were ranked sixth in the Big 8 Conference at the end of the season, losing their last two games.
They finished the season 5-3 at home, and 3-6 on the road. SRJC averaged 69.2 points a game last year. Their leading scorer was Damone Oliver with 13.3 points a game, followed by Markel Leonard with 7.3.
This year, however, the team is looking to improve. The team started with a blowout 86-53 win against Alameda College Nov. 6.
In the CCSF Tournament they Bear Cubs lost 79-74 to Fresno City College Nov. 7, before bouncing back to win 75-63 against Mt. San Antonio in the tournament Nov. 8.
The women’s team finished last season at 15-15 overall and 8-6 in conference play, ranking fourth in the conference. In the first round, the Bear Cubs beat Merritt College, led by Jenna Dunbar’s 26 points to advance to the second round against Chabot College. Although they lost 79-70, Alicia Mehtlan had her best game of the year, scoring 29 points and going 12-12 from the free-throw line.
“The Big 8 is an extremely tough conference and we are aiming to win the title again,” Head Coach Lacy Campbell said.
With four teams in the north, ranked in the states top ten, winning the title again would be a challenge. But the team does have some stars who will be returning this year.
Coming back for her sophomore season is last year’s leading scorer Dunbar.
She averaged 13.6 points per game, more than double what second leading scorer Taylor Graham [4.7] produced.
Also returning to the team is Brooke Santander, Vai Thompson and Niambi Saint Louis. The team has five tournaments that will help them get a good sense of what they can do. “We have to be able to compete three or four days in a row,” Campbell said.
Their first games of the season were in the Merced Tournament Nov. 12-14.
