Giants women's basketball off to 2-0 start in CVC play

By Nick Giannandrea

COS ATHLETICS

Two-time reigning champion College of the Sequoias has opened Central Valley Conference women's basketball play with a pair of blowout wins.

But it's the halftime deficits the Giants have faced in both games -- against teams with sub .500 records, no less -- that concerns coach Doug White.

After trailing by a point at the end of a sluggish first half, Sequoias shot 58 percent (15 of 26) in the second to pull away for a 59-37 victory over West Hills-Lemoore on Jan. 17 at Porter Field House.

The Giants, who are ranked No. 19 in the state by the California Community College Women's Basketball Coaches Association, improved to 12-6 overall and 2-0 in the CVC, a game behind state No. 6-ranked Fresno City (15-4, 3-0) in the conference standings. West Hills-Lemoore drops to 4-11 overall and 0-3 in the CVC.

Sequoias started CVC play on Jan. 13 with a 79-64 win at Merced (5-13, 1-2) in a game it trailed by a point at halftime.

"Luck is going to run out on us," White said. "We should be putting them away. Fresno is putting them away. We need to put them away early, too."

The Giants appeared to be headed toward halftime with a lead as they had possession up 22-21 with 12 seconds left. But a turnover led to Amaya Sanchez's layup at the buzzer for a 23-22 Golden Eagles' lead. Sequoias finished 3 of 18 from 3-point range in the first half.

West Hills-Lemoore got a 3-pointer from Yuliza Padilla to start the second half, but Sequoias responded by outscoring the Golden Eagles 20-4 the rest of the third quarter.

Lucia Ricci (Seattle, Wash.) scored seven points during a 12-0 run to close the third quarter that turned a 30-30 tie into a 42-30 lead for the Giants.

Sequoias continued to add to its lead during a 17-7 fourth quarter that saw Sarah Upshaw (Las Vegas) contribute four points and Taylor Whitfield (Sierra Pacific-Hanford) add three.

The Giants scored 18 of their 37 second-half points in the paint.

"They came out flat. They played flat. They didn't pressure the ball," White said. "They wouldn't run the offense the way we want it ran. We want to attack the basket, and we don't want to shoot ourselves out of a game. Yet we shot 3 for 18 from the 3-point line after we told them we don't want to miss any more 3-pointers. We want to get the ball inside. But they decided to do what they wanted to do. So we had a talk about it at halftime. Then we came out and started attacking the basket and turned the game around." 

Another key to Sequoias' second half turnaround was finding a way to neutralize Sanchez, who scored all 18 of her points in the first half for the Golden Eagles.

"We started keeping her from going to the basket.," White said. "They were content to let someone else guard, rather than themselves stepping over and stop her from driving (in the first half)."

Geizzle Jones (Bullard-Fresno) scored 10 points, to go along with four assists, three rebounds, two steals and a block to lead the Giants.

Anisa Torres (Caruthers) had eight points six rebounds, four steals and three assists; Trinity Ferro (Corcoran) contributed eight points, four rebounds, two steals and a block; while Ricci added seven points, seven assists and five rebounds for Sequoias.

The Giants also received six points and two rebounds from Whitfield; six points, four rebounds and an assist from Maci Chavez (Kingsburg); four points, four rebounds and two assists from Kyla Wandick (Bakersfield); four points, four steals, two assists and a rebound from Jacqueline Ruiz (Kingsburg); four points, a rebound and a block from Upshaw; two points and two assists from Andrea Perez (Porterville); and five rebounds, a block and a steal from Darleth Felix (Tulare Union).

Sequoias' next two games are on the road, traveling to Porterville (3-14, 1-2) at 5 p.m. Jan. 20 and to Taft (12-6, 0-2) at 6 p.m. Jan. 24.

The Giants return to Porter Field House on Jan. 27 for a showdown against Fresno City. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. in the nightcap of a doubleheader with the men's team that starts at 3 p.m.