Riverside Outlasts Solano to Advance to E.O.S. Tournament Championship

The Riverside City College women's basketball team entered into the semifinal contest of its "Earn Our Stripes" Tournament Saturday night in a showdown against the Solano College Falcons in Wheelock Gymnasium. After trailing in the first quarter by five points, the Tigers muscled up and outscored Solano in the following three frames en route to a 65-54 victory.

The Tigers faced a 16-11 deficit entering into the second quarter and looked to shrink the gap. Sophomore Dejah Wright (Moreno Valley, CA) kick started the offense with a triple that was assisted by freshman forward Liliana Martinez (Jurupa Valley, CA). Wright followed shortly after with a layup to tie the contest at 16-all.

Freshman forward Dayna Dewitt (Mansfield, CA) handed the Tigers the lead shortly after by converting an and-one play at the halfway mark. Freshman guard Kimari Hollis (Moreno Valley, CA) flushed a jumper, followed by another bucket from Dewitt to maintain the advantage. However, a short spurt from the Falcons faced the Tigers with a 28-25 deficit entering into the locker room.

The lead teeter-tottered in the early stages of the third frame as both teams traded leads twice and experienced four tied scores. The Tigers grabbed a four-point lead with just under two minutes remaining as freshman guard Adriana Garcia (Riverside, CA) hit a clutch tre ball. Martinez extended the lead to five points with a layup that Garcia located her on. Dewitt hit another floater in the lane to bring a 45-41 advantage into the final quarter.

Solano crept up on the Tigers in the early stages of the fourth quarter, but a 7-2 run gave them another solid cushion. Sophomore guard Joana Adams (Palm Springs, CA) converted two layups on consecutive possessions to seal the deal en route to the 65-54 win.

Hewitt played all 40 minutes of the game and finished with a game-high 24 points (10-for-20). Wright followed her record-setting 44 point showing last night with a solid 20 points which included a 7-for-8 mark from the charity stripe.

Garcia played all 40 minutes as well and notched seven points. Martinez came off the bench and crashed the boards for 10 rebounds.

The Tigers (2-2) will face off against Glendale in the championship game tomorrow at 4 p.m.