Women's Basketball Rounds Out Regular Season Action, Honors Three Sophomores

The Riverside City College women's basketball team looked to keep their playoff hopes alive in their final Orange Empire Conference (OEC) game of the season that featured the Orange Coast College Pirates at home. It was a thrilling showdown that featured only six ties and three lead changes with the tides turning on nearly every possession.

Prior to tonight's game, the Tigers honored three sophomores featuring Alyssa Serna, Regenus Gates and Elizabeth Lau.

Lau, the team captain, has been a vocal leader on and off the court. Serna and Gates have been major contributors as they both cap their regular season careers with double-digit scoring averages. Furthermore, Gates was named to the 2019-20 First-Team All-Conference squad.

Additionally, the Tigers held a peaceful demonstration prior to tip off by wearing t-shirts that promoted equity and equality in women's sports. The front of the shirt read "Equity in Women's Sports", while the back read "We Deserve to Be Here". Orange Coast donned the warm up apparel as well with both teams displaying the message in front of a 500+ crowd in support of the cause. The majority of the fans in attendance were wearing thet-shirt as well.

Once the game was underway, neither team held a true advantage, but the Pirates grabbed ahold of the reigns with their largest lead of the night at eight points with just under four minutes remaining.

After the Pirates extended their lead to eight points, freshman forward Mya Clark trimmed the deficit to four points with a free throw and a layup after the Tigers forced a turnover on the defensive end to push the score to 62-58.

After the Tigers missed two free throws on the following possession, a stagnant scoring streak of nearly a minute was axed after freshman guard Shannon Jordan reached the line and hit two free throws to keep the deficit at four points. However, a foul on the Tigers that sent OCC's Alexis Legan to the line for a trio of free throws ended with her hitting two and pushing the score to 66-61 and forcing a Riverside timeout.

Nevertheless, the Tigers continued to fight.

Following the timeout, the Tigers forced a turnover which was stolen by freshman forward Neveah Manning who turned it into a fast break bucket bringing the Tigers to within three points. She followed with yet another steal, but was unable to convert the bucket as the Tigers missed a handful of second chance opportunities.

Manning continued to pester the Pirates offense on the following possession as she forced her third-straight steal. This led to a Pirates'' foul, sending freshman guard Neiya Hamilton to the line. She hit one free throw bringing the score to 66-64 with six second remaining.

After the Tigers intentionally fouled the Pirates on their final possession, Orange Coast missed both free throws to give Riverside a chance with under four seconds left. They were able to inbound the ball and push it across half court, but were unable to convert leading to a 66-64 defeat.

Clark finished with a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds, while Manning followed with 16 points and eight rebounds. RCC shot 35.7 percent from the floor which included a 1-for-11 mark from distance. They dominated the boards with 46 rebounds to Orange Coast's 35 which lead to 38 points in the paint. Additionally, the Tiger's bench outscored the Pirate's bench, 20-1.