Giants women's basketball lose ground in CVC race following second straight defeat
By Nick Giannandrea
COS ATHLETICS
College of the Sequoias' hopes of capturing a second consecutive Central Valley Conference women's basketball championship are in a precarious position.
The Giants sit three games behind conference co-leading Fresno City and Lemoore following an 80-71 loss to the Rams on Jan. 17 at Porter Field House.
California Community College Women's Basketball Coaches' Association state No. 19-ranked Fresno City (13-6 overall, 3-0 in the CVC) and Lemoore (14-5, 3-0) both stand in front of Sequoias (9-11, 2-2) with eight conference games remaining.
The No. 19 Giants lost their second straight and have dropped six of their past nine games overall.
"We're just trying to figure out how to win a basketball game. I'm not even worried about league and whatever else," second-season coach Tyler Newton said. "I already told them I thought one or two losses was going to be what you could afford to do to win a league title, and we've already lost two. Now things are out of our control. We talked about keeping things in your control, and as long as you keep winning, it's in your control. When you lose games, you have to hope people beat other people, and that's not a very fun place to be."
Sequoias actually got off to a strong start.
Kalysa Phanhsavang (Stockton) came up with a steal and a layup on the game's opening possession, Phanhsavang assisted a basket by Olivia Gill (Woodland), Izabel Mendez (Caruthers High) drained a 3-pointer off an assist from Nyla Anderson (Austin, Texas) and Gill sank a free throw as the Giants jumped out to an 8-0 lead.
Fresno City, however, outscored Sequoias 15-7 the rest of the first quarter to force a 15-15 tie.
Rylan Davis opened the second-quarter scoring with a 3-pointer to put the Rams ahead 18-15. Fresno City would not trail the rest of the way.
Sequoias faced its largest deficit when Catherine Spears' layup put the Rams up 52-40 to close the third quarter.
The Giants got as close as five points (65-60) following a pair of free throws by Mendez with 5:06 left in the game.
Fresno City went 5 of 6 from the field the rest of the way, including two of their 12 3-pointers, to pull away.
"When you give up 80 points, it's hard to beat anybody," Newton said. "We still aren't bought into doing things we're supposed to do consistently. I don't know who I'm supposed to play. We don't have set girls who can bring consistently to what we're doing every day.
"Hat's off to them. They average (five) made 3-pointers a game and made 12 today. We know what they do offensively and even though we practiced it, we still couldn't guard it. Their kids were tougher than ours. They finished at the rim better than ours. They were more poised than ours. They are a good basketball team."
Gabby Brooks (Henderson, Nev.) led the Giants with 16 points, to go along with two rebounds and a steal.
Demi Boykin (Marysville) came off the bench to deliver 14 points, seven rebounds and an assist.
Mendez contributed 10 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Sequoias also received seven points, five rebounds and an assist from Anderson; six points, three rebounds, an assist and a steal from Sydney Chesnut (Henderson, Nev.); six points, three rebounds, three steals and two assists from Vivian Moore (Central East-Fresno); four points, six rebounds, four assists and a steal from Phanhsavang; three points, eight rebounds and an assist from Gill; three points from Mallary Gonzalez (Hoover-Fresno); two points, six rebounds and an assist from Ava King (Bakersfield Christian); three rebounds from Maya McNeal (Marysville) and a rebound from Claire Olia (Walnut).
The Giants return to action when they host Merced (8-11, 1-2) at 7 p.m. Jan. 21 at Porter Field House.
"At the end of the day, I'm going to keep coaching them and teaching the right things," Newton said. "And it's going to be up to them to decide if they want to buy in and finish the rest of the season the right way or not. We're in a tough spot for sure."
