Giants dial up intensity for season's best performance during CVC women's basketball rout of Merced
By Nick Giannandrea
COS ATHLETICS
College of the Sequoias women's basketball team finally delivered the type of performance second-year coach Tyler Newton has been waiting for during a season of unexpected struggle.
Following what Newton described as two intense days of practice, the Giants scored the first 14 points and never looked back while steamrolling Merced 93-35 in a Central Valley Conference game Jan. 21 at Porter Field House.
It's the most points Sequoias has scored and fewest it has allowed this season.
Newton ratched up the intensity after the Giants lost consecutive conference games to Lemoore (75-56) and Fresno City (80-71) last week, causing Sequoias to drop out of the latest California Community College Women's Basketball Coaches' Association state rankings. The Giants, who had lost six of their past nine games overall, was the preseason No. 2-ranked team coming off a 31-1, state semifinalist campaign in 2024-2025.
"That's what's been so hard about this season is we see it in practice and in moments (in games), so we know it's there," Newton said. "It's our job to figure out how to get these young ladies to buy into how important consistency is. Whether you shoot it great or not every night, you can defend as hard as you can. You can run the floor as hard as you can. You can share the ball and control what you can control. I think overall it was one of our better performances from start to finish. Hopefully we can build off this."
The reigning CVC champion Giants (10-11, 3-2) sit 2.5 games behind first-place and No. 18-ranked Fresno City (14-6, 4-0), and one game before second-place and No. 21-ranked Lemoore (14-6, 3-1) with seven to play. Sequoias closes the first half of conference play at Porterville (13-7, 2-2) in a game scheduled for 5 p.m. Jan. 24.
"We can't lose any more games," Newton said. "We have to make a run here. We have to treat every game like a state championship game. I felt like our energy and effort was much better today than it's been in the last month. I felt like our defense was more active and better. I thought our fastbreak was the best it's been all year. We committed to sprinting. We committed to playing fast and sharing the ball."
Newton made some changes against Merced (8-12, 1-3) that paid dividends, moving Demi Boykin (Marysville) and Ava King (Bakersfield Christian High) into the starting lineup for Kalya Phanhsavang (Stockton) and Olivia Gill (Woodland).
Boykin contributed two rebounds and King had a rebound, assist and steal as the Giants jumped out to a 7-0 lead. Phanhsavang and Gill entered at the 6 minute, 23 second mark of the first quarter with Phanhsavang racking up seven points, a rebound and an assist, while Gill added two points, two steals and a rebound to help Sequoias build a 22-3 first-quarter lead.
Phanhsavang went on to have her best game of the season, finishing with 20 points, eight assists, three rebounds and three steals.
"I think it kicked Kalysa in the butt a little bit," Newton said. "She hasn't been playing the way she's supposed to play. I think she wanted to prove that she should be a starter."
Sequoias held the Blue Devils to 3 of 32 shooting (9 percent) in the first half while storming to a 46-13 lead.
The Giants' lead swelled as large as 59 points (87-28) on a jumper by Nyla Anderson (Austin, Texas) with 5:58 left in the game.
Anderson made 9 of 12 shots overall, while Phanhsavang converted 8 of 10 to lead Sequoias' 46.8 percent (37 of 79) shooting from the field.
Anderson had a team-leading 23 points along with three rebounds, two assists and a steal.
Gill finished with eight points, three rebounds, two steals and an assist.
Boykin delivered five points, a team-leading 14 rebounds and two assists, while King added two points, six rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block.
Sequoias also received eight points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals from Claire Olia (Walnut); eight points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal from Sydney Chesnut (Henderson, Nev.); six points, three rebounds and two assists from Gabby Brooks (Henderson, Nev.); six points, eight rebounds and a steal from Maya McNeal (Marysville); five points, seven assists, four steals and two rebounds from Izabel Mendez (Caruthers High); and two points, four rebounds and a steal from Mallary Gonzalez (Hoover High-Fresno).
"I'm not happy because we won or by how many points we won," Newton said. "To me, it's our approach and how we played. I told them win or lose, I want to play the right way. That's what last year's team bought into. Every game we play to a standard. We play the right way. Whether we win by 50 or win by one, the standard is the standard, and hopefully this group is starting to learn that."
The Giants next home game is set for 7 p.m. Feb. 4 against Reedley (13-7, 2-2).
