at Riverside City College Tigers 56, Fullerton College Hornets 42 (Orange Empire Conference)

RIVERSIDE – Leading from the start, the host Riverside City College (RCC) Tigers women's basketball team won, 56-42, over the visiting Fullerton College Hornets in an Orange Empire Conference game Wednesday evening at the newly renovated Wheelock Gymnasium.

In the first half, Riverside (9-10, 2-1 OEC) was never headed, as it nursed a modest 12-11 lead with 13:09 left into an 18-12 margin with 8:04 remaining. Down the stretch, RCC built its biggest first-half advantage, at 29-18, when sophomore guard Neka Hunter (Riverside Poly HS) popped the last of her 12 first-half points with :05 left.

The Tigers opened the second half with a pair of baskets and built their biggest lead, 34-18, with 17:36 remaining. The Hornets (5-12, 1-2 OEC) closed to within 40-35 on a pair of free throws by freshman guard-forward Andrya Ventura (Pinole Valley HS) with 5:00 left, but consecutive layins by freshman forward Kayla Johns (Moreno Valley HS) gave Riverside a 50-37 lead with 1:54 to play.

For Riverside, Hunter popped in a game-high 18 points (along with four assists and four steals), followed by Johns, who added 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. For Fullerton, sophomore forward Amber Washington (Compton / Long Beach –David Starr Jordan HS) led the Hornets with 16 points. Freshman forward Stephanie Drayer (Chino Hills / St. Lucy's Priory HS) added seven points and a team-high ten rebounds. Also of note was that Ventura was 0 for 16 from the floor (0 for 7 on three-point attempts), but three of four from the free throw line for a total of three points.

Both teams return to OEC action this Friday, Jan. 18, at 5:30 p.m. Riverside will visit the Santa Ana College Dons, while Fullerton will visit the Saddleback College Gauchos. RCC's next home game will be on Wednesday, Jan. 23, against Saddleback at 5:30 p.m.