Giants women's basketball awarded No. 1 seed for NorCal Regional playoffs; host second-round game March 1

By Nick Giannandrea

COS ATHLETICS

There was no surprise when the California Community College Athletic Association announced the No. 1 seed for the Northern California Regional women's basketball playoffs.

College of the Sequoias was the runaway choice with a resume that featured the state's only undefeated regular season (28-0), an outright Central Valley Conference championship (12-0), the state's best TSRPI (.681) and NCRPI (.711) totals, a season-long unanimous No. 1 ranking by the California Community College Women's Basketball Coaches Association, and the most wins in the state over ranked opponents (12), including two wins each over No. 2 Mt. San Antonio (24-4), No. 3 Orange Coast (23-5) and No. 4 Moorpark (24-4). 

The Giants, who are guaranteed home court advantage through the regional finals, also hold a head-to-head win (87-58 on Dec. 6) over NorCal Regional second-seeded San Joaquin Delta (20-8).

Sequoias received a first-round bye and is scheduled to host the winner between No. 16 Cabrillo (18-10) and No. 17 Modesto (14-14) at 5:30 p.m. March 1 at Porter Field House in a doubleheader with the college's men's team, which will play at 7:30 p.m.

Admission, as determined by the 3C2A, is $12 general admission and $8 for all identified students, faculty, staff, senior citizens age 60 and older, and children less than 12 years of age.

"Obviously, I thought we'd be No. 1 and I'm happy with that for sure," first-season Giants coach Tyler Newton said. "But when the playoffs come, everyone ratchets it up and we'll get everyone's best punch. We've got to get ready for that."

While authoring the most dominant regular season performance in recent California women's basketball history -- Palomar was the last team to finish the regular season undefeated in 2022-2023, and Mt. SAC was the last unbeaten state champion in 2012-2013 -- it hasn't been all smooth sailing for Sequoias.

Freshman forward Kaitlin Giacone (Eureka) has battled through an injury all season but not missed a game, sophomore guard Karine Dhaliwal (Yube) missed the season's first 15 games with an injury, freshman center Mallary Gonzalez (Hoover-Fresno) missed five games in the middle of the season with an injury, freshman guard Tylie Hatcher (Cloverdale) missed the last 10 games of the regular season with an injury and likely won't be available for the playoffs, and reigning all-state sophomore point guard Campbell Vieg (Chico) was lost for the rest of the season five games ago with an injury.

But the Giants were dealt their toughest blow of the season Feb. 18 when they learned of the death of assistant coach/recruiting coordinator Larry Trigueiro, father of star sophomore guard Morgan Trigueiro and an icon in the community of Caruthers for his achievements in coaching and open wheel racing.

"We're in a tough spot emotionally if I'm being honest," Newton said. "We've been through a lot of adversity. We're trying to stay together and do the best we can."

The team was at the hospital until midnight on the night of Larry Trigueiro's passing. The Giants -- minus Morgan Trigueiro and Anisa Torres, Larry Trigueiro's goddaughter -- gathered the next morning at Newton's home and were planning to forfeit their regular season finale later that night at Porterville, which would have ended their winning streak at 27 games.

But Morgan Trigueiro called in during the meeting and told her team over speaker phone that there would be no forfeiting.

She then went out and scored a season-high 40 points as Sequoias rolled to a 92-50 CVC win.

"We weren't going to play," Newton said. "But Mo said she wanted to play because that's what her dad would have wanted her to do. I was happy how the kids rallied around her."

Morgan Trigueiro's performance against Porterville cemented her selection as the CVC's Co-Most Valuable Player with teammate Jocelyn Medina, a sophomore guard from Arbuckle. Newton was named the CVC Coach of the Year.

The Giants placed two players on the All-CVC first team in Vieg and Giacone, while sophomore guard Lucia Ricci (Seattle), sophomore guard Torres (Caruthers), and freshman forward Olivia Gill (Woodland) were selected to the second team. Honorable mention went to sophomore guard Teresa Sandoval (Hanford West).

Looming on the opposite side of the NorCal Regional playoff bracket from Sequoias are No. 8 Fresno City (19-9), No. 9 Butte (18-9) and No. 24 Mission (14-14). Newton spent the past seven seasons coaching at Butte before taking over as Sequoias coach last spring. Trigueiro, Medina, Vieg and Dhaliwal all transferred from Butte to continue playing for Newton, who led the Roadrunners to the state semifinals last season.

Also earning top-four seeds were No. 3 Sierra (23-4) and No. 4 San Jose (26-2).

The NorCal Regional finals are scheduled for March 8.

The state's Elite Eight championship tournament is March 14-16 at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut.

Sequoias has reached the Elite Eight 13 times in program history, most recently in 2023.

The Giants had a streak of six consecutive trips to the Elite Eight snapped in 2024, when they lost in the regional finals to Delta 71-45.

Sequoias' lone state championship came in 1987, when the Giants went 35-0 under legendary coach Tom Gilcrest.