Photos by Cassandra Serrano
Photos by Cassandra Serrano

Women’s Basketball Earns 11th Seed in CCCAA Southern Regional Playoffs

After a year hiatus from the playoffs, the Riverside City College women's basketball team has reached the 2023 California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Southern Regional playoffs as the 11th overall seed. They will play host to the 22nd seeded MiraCosta College Spartans at home on Wednesday, February 22 at 7:30 p.m.

There will be a charge for admission due to CCCAA playoff policy. This is a cashless event and we accept all major credit card providers along with mobile phone pay. The charge for admission is $12 for general admission and $8 for students with a valid ID, children under 11 years old and senior citizens 60 years of age and older. The game will be live-streamed free of charge on Riverside Athletics YouTube Channel. We will also be providing live stats on www.rccathletics.com.

The Tigers finished their season with an overall record of 19-9 which included a 6-6 conference clip. Their biggest win of the year came against the Cypress College Chargers in early February after leaning on a big second half to outscore the Chargers, 48-26. Riverside is one of four Orange Empire Conference (OEC) clubs that reached the postseason. They are joined by No. 1 Orange Coast, No. 5 Cypress and No. 8 Irvine Valley.

Riverside and MiraCosta faced off earlier this season with the Tigers earning a commanding 61-45 victory in early December. Freshman guard N'Dya Parks was the thorn in the Spartan's side after coming off the bench to score 16 points to go along with two steals and two rebounds. At that time in the season, it was her third-career double-digit scoring mark with all three coming from the bench. Since that point, Parks added seven more double-digit scoring games that featured a career-high 26 points in the season finale against Orange Coast. She has started in eight of the last night games.

Leading the charge for the Tigers is sophomore forward Maxine Najera who paces her team with 11 points-per-game. She boasts a team-high 78.8 shooting percentage in 23.3 minutes per game. She has recorded eight double doubles on the year highlighted by a monster 31-point, 11 rebound game in a win over Cypress in February. She has scored in the double digits on 14 different occasions while surpassing the 20-point mark three times.

Parks follows with a 10.6 points-per-game clip while currently riding a nine-game double-digit scoring streak following a career-high 26-point game last Thursday. Her showing against MiraCosta was the most efficient she has been all year after going 6-for-7 from the floor which included a flawless 3-for-3 mark from beyond the arc.

Freshman Mikayla Roberts follows with an 8.3 points-per-game mark in 26 starts. She leads the team with 5.4 assists-per-game as she has run the point at a high level this season. She also leads the team with 2.2 steals-per-game. Freshman guard Ashley Smith follows to complete the backcourt. In 18 games played and 10 starts, she sits at 6.8 points-per-game after landing in double-digits in five of the last six games. She bucketed a career-high 19 points against Fullerton.

Freshman center Janara Williams has added some valuable minutes down the stretch as seen in a 22 point showing in the season final against Orange Coast off the bench. She averages an even eight points-per-game.