Giants cap undefeated women's basketball regular season behind Trigueiro's 40 points

By Nick Giannandrea

COS ATHLETICS

One night after suffering an unthinkable family tragedy, Morgan Trigueiro delivered her best performance of an already spectacular season for College of the Sequoias women's basketball team.

Trigueiro scored a season-high 40 points to help the state unanimous No. 1-ranked Giants complete the only undefeated regular season in California with a 92-50 Central Valley Conference victory over host Porterville on Feb. 19.

The 5-foot, 9-inch sophomore out of Caruthers High played with a heavy heart following the death of her father, Larry Triqueiro, a night earlier. Larry Triqueiro was in his first season as the Giants' recruiting director/program assistant. He was a sports icon in his hometown for his work with the Caruthers girls basketball program as well as his success in open wheel racing.

Morgan Trigueiro scored nine points as Sequoias broke the game open with a 31-point second quarter. The Giants' lead swelled from one point (20-19) at the end of the first quarter to 21 points (51-30) at halftime.

Trigueiro, who was an all-state selection at Butte College last season before transferring to Sequoias, added 15 more points in the third quarter as the Giants stretched their lead to 29 points (70-41).

When she was removed from the game for the final time with 3 minutes and 38 seconds left in the fourth quarter after draining a 3-pointer off an assist from Jocelyn Medina (Arbuckle), Trigueiro was given a standing ovation and departed the court to chants of "Mo! Mo!" by the fans in attendance, including Sequoias President/Superintendent Brent Calvin, Athletic Director Brent Davis, board member Ken Nunes, the Giants men's basketball players, members of the Trigueiro family, members of the Caruthers girls basketball program and other Sequoias student-athletes who came to lend their support.

Trigueiro finished 15 of 35 from the field. She added five assists, two rebounds, a steal and a block. Trigueiro will be a top contender for all-CVC and all-state honors during a season when she has averaged 19.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game while shooting 41 percent from 3-point range.

While improving to 28-0 overall and 12-0 in the CVC, Sequoias became the first California community college women's basketball team to finish the regular season undefeated since Palomar in 2022-2023.

The last team to finish a season as an undefeated state champion was Mt. San Antonio, which went 34-0 in 2012-2013.

Owners of a state-best 12 wins over ranked opposition -- including No. 2 Mt. San Antonio, No. 3 Orange Coast and No. 4 Moorpark twice each -- Sequoias is expected to receive the No. 1 seed for the Northern California Regional playoffs when pairings are announced Feb. 23. The Giants are likely to host a second-round game March 1, possibly as a doubleheader with the school's men's team, who are in the running for a top-four seed and guaranteed home games through the regional finals.

Sequoias nearly received a triple-double from Medina against Porterville (6-20, 0-11), as she finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists, two steals and a block.

Lucia Ricci (Seattle), helped the Giants enjoy a 67-27 advantage on the boards, finishing with 10 rebounds to go along with five points, three steals and an assist.

Olivia Gill (Woodland) delivered a season-high 14 points along with eight rebounds, an assist and a steal off the bench.

Sequoias also received six points, five rebounds an assist and a block from Kaitlin Giacone (Eureka); four points, nine rebounds and an assist from Anisa Torres (Caruthers); five points, seven rebounds and two assist from Mallary Gonzalez (Hoover-Fresno); four points, five rebounds, four assists and one steal from Teresa Sandoval (Hanford West); and six rebounds from Maya McNeal (Marysville).

The Giants are trying to add a second state championship to the school's trophy case. Sequoias' only state championship came in 1987, when legendary coach Tom Gilcrest directed a team that finished 35-0.