Tigers Lose, 62-50, to El Camino; Play Barstow for Third Place on Sunday

RIVERSIDE -- Running into a slightly better team, the host Riverside City College (RCC) Tigers women's basketball team lost, 62-50, to the El Camino College (ECC) Warriors in a semifinal game Saturday night (Nov. 8) to conclude the action of day two of RCC's inaugural Earning Our Stripes Tournament at RCC's historic Arthur N. Wheelock Gymnasium.

Riverside (1-1 overall) led, 7-2, with 15:36 left in the first half before El Camino (2-0) forged a 9-9 tie and then broke it with an 11-3 run for a 20-12 lead with 7:52 remaining. In the second half, RCC closed to within 45-41 with 8:09 left in regulation before the Warriors regrouped and kept the Tigers at bay.

Sophomore guard Nisja Bass (Mayfair HS) had a co-game-high 14 points, along with six rebounds, five assists and five steals to play well at both ends of the court. Frosh forward Helena Jones-Caldwell (Inglewood HS) had 13 points for ECC.

RCC sophomore guard Tamara Herring (Riverside / Citrus Hill '13) had a co-game-high 14 points. Sophomore center Tori Mitchell (Riverside / Poly '12) added 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

In earlier tournament action, the Cerritos College Falcons advanced to Sunday's (Nov. 9) consolation championship game with a 72-62 win over the Glendale College Vaqueros. The Falcons (1-1 overall) led from the start as they opened a 10-0 lead at the 16:19 mark and built a pair of 11-point leads before settling for a 34-25 halftime lead.

Frosh center Aissha Baldwin (Mayfair HS) had a team-high 16 points and a game-high 14 rebounds, and sophomore guard Shonnell Hoyt (St. Anthony HS) chipped in with 14 points. Frosh guard Karina Moreno (Fairfax HS) had a game-high 21 points for Glendale (0-2).

In another consolation semifinal, Grossmont College Griffins were assessed a bench technical foul before the opening tip for not wearing a solid color jersey. Thus, the College of the Desert Roadrunners led, 1-0, after making one of two free throws. Grossmont (1-1 overall) went on to score the next 18 points en route to a 39-18 halftime lead and a final score of 76-35.

Sophomore forward Jasmine Patrick (Nathan Bedford Forest HS) had a game-high 13 points and game-high 15 rebounds for the Griffins. Frosh guard Cindy Saldana (Perris / Perris HS) led COD (0-2 overall) with nine points and seven rebounds.

In Saturday's other championship semifinal game, the Cypress College Chargers (2-0 overall) broke a 2-2 tie with a 15-0 run and cruised to a 96-60 win over the Barstow College (BC) Vikings. Sophomore guard Lauren Hong (Lakewood / St. Joseph HS) tossed in a game-high 18 points in only 19 minutes for Cypress.

On Sunday, Nov. 9, the matchups are as follows: Cerritos versus Grossmont at 12 p.m. (consolation championship/fifth place), Barstow versus Riverside at 2 p.m. in the third-place game, and Cypress versus El Camino at 4 p.m. in the championship game.

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