The Bakersfield College women’s basketball team will play in the Cuesta Tournament in San Luis Obispo on Dec. 3-5.
The Renegades season record going into the tournament is 4-1. On Nov. 24, the women’s team won its second straight game of the season, beating Rio Hondo 85-56.
Coach Paula Dahl talked about Rio Hondo before the game and said, “They have only played one game, they have a new coach so we are hopeful to keep going what we have going.”
BC beat Reedley 77-65 on Nov. 21. The Renegades were slow at first to put up points but with the help of free throws, ended up making the score 32-30 Reedley by halftime. Sophomore guard Ashlee Taira noticed the team was struggling in the first half and kept telling the team to relax.
“If we would have been more relaxed, we wouldn’t have had so many turnovers, and we would have been able to run our offense,” she said.
Dahl also talked about the team’s start and said, “The slow start was my fault. I think they came into the game a little more confident than they should have, and they just weren’t ready for the aggressiveness of Reedley. Then we calmed down and played our game and hit our free throws, and we took care of business.”
Around the 11-minute mark in the second half, BC freshman guard Kaileigh Christensen made two free throws that put BC ahead 47-46
“Against Santa Barbara, we didn’t make our free throws down the stretch, and we lost, and against Reedley, we made our free throws, and we won. So, free throws have a major impact on a game,” Dahl said.
“I’m proud of my team, because even though we started slow we didn’t let the physical aspect of the game get to us, and we kept our composure, and that’s why we won.”
BC lost its only game of the season so far Nov. 18 against Santa Barbara, 70-64.
Santa Barbara led at halftime 33-28 and continued throughout the game until the 13-minute mark. That’s when freshman point guard Dianna Roseburr got a steal under the basket and made a lay-up and then made a free throw soon after to push BC ahead 44-39. With 1:17 left and BC behind two points, freshman guard Alexi Smith missed her two free throws.
“I felt like I let my team down a little, but we needed to stop them defensively,” Smith said.
Santa Barbara went on to score four more points to win the game. Smith led the team with 15 points and 13 rebounds, followed by Julianne Thomas with 14 points and six rebounds and Taira with 12 points, seven rebounds and three steals. BC had six assists and 22 turnovers against Santa Barbara.