Photo by Bobby R. Hester
Photo by Bobby R. Hester

Women’s Basketball Upsets No. 16 Irvine Valley in Conference Action

It is a tall task for any team to hit the road in conference competition and play a top-25 team in the state. The atmosphere is threatening and it takes a visiting team to be firing on all cylinders in order to haul in a victory. For the Riverside City College women's basketball team, that feat was accomplished on Tuesday night as the Tigers defeated the No. 16 Irvine Valley College Lasers in Orange Empire Conference (OEC) action by the final score of 71-66.

Riverside hands Irvine Valley its fifth loss of the season and snapping a three-game conference winning streak. Riverside has won six of their last seven conference games and is sitting one game behind IVC in the standings at third overall.

There were seven ties and eight led changes in the contest. Riverside held a lead as large as 10 points, while the Lasers' largest lead of the contest was a mere three points. Despite Riverside going 0-for-10 from downtown, they rode a 41.9 shooting percentage to the Laser's 29.3 shooting percentage.  

Sophomore forward Dayna Dewitt experienced a career-high game. She recorded a massive double-double featuring 33 points and 15 rebounds. It is her second-consecutive double-digit rebounding game and her fifth-consecutive double-digit scoring game. Furthermore, it is her seventh double-double this season.

Freshman guard Trinity Vasquez continued to put the ball in the hoop as seen in 20 points. She hauled in six rebounds and contributed one assist. Sophomore center Kierra Roberts dominated the boards by hauling in a career-high 17 rebounds. She chipped in seven points as well.

Riverside (12-10, 8-3 OEC) will continue conference action on Thursday, February 14 in a conference showdown against Santa Ana on the road at 7 p.m.