Giants women's basketball positioned to extend NorCal Regional playoff berth streak

By Nick Giannandrea

COS ATHLETICS

College of the Sequoias' women's basketball team put itself in position to extend a streak of 10 consecutive Northern California Regional playoff appearances following a 68-60 Central Valley Conference-closing victory at Reedley on Feb. 23.

The state No. 15-ranked Giants improved to 19-9 overall and a second-place 9-3 in the CVC, finishing three games behind champion and No. 5-ranked Fresno City.

NorCal Regional playoff seedings will be announced Feb. 26, and first-round games are set for Feb. 28.

Sequoias features a resume that includes wins over state No. 13 San Francisco and No. 22 Ventura, and the fifth-best Ratings Percentage Index among teams in NorCal at .593 -- trailing Butte (.666), San Joaquin Delta (.650), Fresno (.628) and Folsom Lake (.605).

The Giants are ranked No. 9 in NorCal and are one of 12 teams in the region with at least 19 wins.

The top-16 seeded teams in the 24-team NorCal Regionals receive at least one home game. 

Behind 19 points, eight rebounds, seven steals, an assist and a block by Anisa Torres (Caruthers High), Sequoias closed the regular season by avenging a 67-60 loss to Reedley on Jan. 31 to close the first half of CVC play.

The Giants jumped out to a 12-2 lead behind four points from Teresa Sandoval (Hanford West).

But the Tigers (17-10, 8-4) outscored Sequoias 30-18 over the rest of the first half to take a 32-30 lead at halftime.

The lead would change hands nine times in the second half before the Giants went ahead to stay (56-54) on a 3-pointer by Torres with 6 minutes and 32 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

That ignited a 9-0 Sequoias run that saw it turn a 54-53 deficit into a 62-54 lead with 3:37 left following a layup by Sandoval.

Reedley closed to 62-58 with 44 seconds left, but the Giants converted 6 of 6 free throw attempts the rest of the way -- including four by Torres -- to hold on. 

Kyla Wandick (Bakersfield) also had a productive night for Sequoias, finishing with 18 points. three rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Sandoval contributed 13 points, four assists and three rebounds, while Darleth Felix (Tulare Union) added 12 points, three rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

The Giants also received two points, 11 rebounds, five assists and three steals from Lucia Ricci (Seattle, Wa.); four points, a rebound and a steal from Sarah Upshaw (Las Vegas); a rebound and an assist from Maci Chavez (Kingsburg); and a rebound and an assist from Andrea Perez (Porterville).