Sharp Shooting Sends Women’s Basketball past Fullerton

It was a nail biter for the Riverside City College women's basketball team on Friday night as they were locked in a late-game brawl with the Fullerton College Hornets at home in Orange Empire Conference (OEC) play. After the Tigers held a lead as large as 19 points, the Hornets cut the deficit down to two points halfway through the fourth quarter. Riverside remained poised and clutched up late in the fourth quarter highlighted by a handful of timely three-pointers en route to an 89-78 victory.

Riverside utilized a 50 percent shooting clip from the floor to mark their fifth-straight game totaling more than 80 points. Their efficient shooting was heavily based upon earning 34 points in the paint and tallying 25 points off of turnovers. Freshman guard Kimari Hollis (Moreno Valley, CA) was a defensive nightmare for the Hornet as her tenacious pressure led to easy fast break opportunities highlighted by three steals leading to buckets.

It was not until later in the contest when the Tigers began to light it up from three-point range. After hitting a treball earlier in the game, freshman guard Miranda Banuelos (Riverside, CA) hit a clutch three pointer to push their lead back to 10 points. On the following possession, Banuelos located sophomore guard Dejah Wright (Moreno Valley, CA) for a three pointer to put the contest out of reach for the Hornets.

Wright continued to set the standard for scoring in the OEC by finishing with 20 points which encompassed a 5-for-9 clip from beyond the arc. She has landed in double-digit points in the last six games and has recorded at least 20 points in five of those games.

Hollis continued to ball by draining 23 points on an 11-for-14 showing from the floor. Additionally, she dished out three assists, pocketed three steals, and snatched three rebounds. Sophomore guard Joana Adams (Palm Springs, CA) recorded her third double-double in four games by dropping 16 points and reeling in 10 rebounds.

The Tigers (14-6, 5-1 OEC) look to keep the trend moving upward in a conference battle against the Irvine Valley College Lasers on Wednesday, January 24^th on the road.