Riverside Overcomes Early Struggles in Sizable Victory over Santa Ana

The Riverside City College women's basketball team hosted the Santa Ana College Dons in an Orange Empire Conference (OEC) showdown on Friday night in what shaped up to be a second-half thriller. Despite both teams combining for just nine points in the opening 10 minutes, it was Riverside who turned up the heat on both ends of the floor leading to a 75-57 win.

The Tigers experienced an abysmal first quarter by only netting three points and missing all 15 of thier shot attempts leading to a mere three points. Despite the slow start, Riverside settled into a rhythm and opened the second quarter on a 19-2 run.

Sophomore forward Dayna Dewitt sparked the streak by hitting the opening layup. Freshman guard Dyani Brewer followed with a layup and a three pointer. Freshman guard Trinity Vasquez continued the streak with a set of free throws and two layups to hand the Tigers a 28-18 lead entering into halftime.

Santa Ana kept themselves within reach by outscoring Riverside in the third quarter, but a strong fourth quarter by the Tigers, fueled by 10 points from Dewitt, sealed the deal with the final score reading 75-57.

Dewitt recorded a double-double after netting 22 points and racking up 14 rebounds. Vasquez followed with 20 points, while Brewer was one rebound shy of a double-double. She finished with 12 points and nine boards.

Sophomore guard Adriana Garcia was a feeding machine as she tallied a season-high nine assists in a starting role, while freshman Vanessa Vargas chipped in eight points off of the pine.

Riverside (7-9, 3-2 OEC) will continue action on Friday, January 25 as they hit the road to take on the Saddleback College Gauchos at 7 p.m.