The Santa Rosa Junior College women’s basketball team played stout defense in a 69-56 comeback win against Laney College at home on Friday.
The Bear Cubs (4-2) had the gym on edge with frequent lead changes but rallied with an impressive 25-point final period and an emphasis on defense against the Eagles (4-1).
“I think our defensive effort was really what got us the win, and that’s something we’ve been focusing on is transitioning on defense and getting back, making sure that we’re stopping their first action and I thought that was a big key tonight,” said SRJC Head Coach Lacey Campbell. “I thought they all did that really well.”
The Bear Cubs had a strong first quarter, jumping out to a 16-11 lead by taking advantage of fast breaks off of turnovers, free throws and ball movement leading to open mid-range shots.
SRJC struggled in the second quarter, only managing 10 points and allowing the Eagles to take a 29-26 lead, despite the continuous strong defense by the Bear Cubs.
SRJC’s Ivy Gonzalez had a phenomenal performance in the third quarter. She started by sinking two 3-pointers, one of them with a hand in her face, six free throws and a graceful underhand layup that sent the bleachers into a frenzy. Along with two other layups, the Bear Cubs led at the end of the third, 44-37.
Gonzalez continued to dominate in the final quarter with three strong finishes at the rim and four more free throws off of drawn fouls. This aggressiveness rallied the Bear Cubs and drove them to the 69-56 win.
Gonzalez finished with 29 points, scoring most of them in the second half. She humbly remarked on her teammates’ efforts in securing the win.
“I think the two people that helped me out the most were our two freshmen,” she said. “Their contributions were really big and I’m super proud of them because they’ve come a long way.”
The two freshmen Gonzalez credits are Sydney Martin and Kaia Eubanks. Martin scored 10 points in the final quarter alone and finished with 16 points. Eubanks scored every quarter, moved the ball beautifully and drew fouls, finishing with 13 points.
“I think we played really well as a team tonight, and it was really a group effort,” Eubanks said. “We’ve been having a hard time playing all the way through the game and today we really focused and in the second half we got it done.”
SRJC will look to maintain the momentum in their next game against Solano College at 6:00 p.m. home on Tuesday, Nov. 26.
