Gades honor Dahl, level competition

Daulton James Jones, Reporter

Bakersfield College women’s basketball is in full swing with a positive record this season, and the potential to move forward to win the conference title.

On top of that, head coach Paula Dahl was given a plaque for achieving 300 wins during her time at BC. During the break just before Christmas, the Renegades participated in the Monterey Peninsula College tournament where they played against American River, Monterey Peninsula and Las Positas. During this tournament, they had a tough loss against American River, falling 70-65. Mackenzie te Velde scored 27 points with 15 rebounds.

After the American River loss, Bakersfield College came back and won back-to-back games against Las Positas and Monterey.

The Renegades beat Las Positas 75-54 with te Velde and Kennedy Nielson scoring 15 and 14 points, respectively. Point guard Julie Olvera had four steals and five assists.

BC beat Monterey 69-59 to close the tournament. Dahl said that the team’s defense contributed to their win.

Following the Monterey tournament, the Renegades beat West Hills 85-43.

Then they headed to the Hancock Crossover Tournament to play Allan Hancock. Olvera was out with a concussion that game. The Renegades lost 58-55, and Marissa Figueroa led the scorers with 19 points. BC then beat Cuesta 85-59, with Nielson scoring 32 points, and te Velde scoring 13 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.

Since beating Cuesta, which was ranked 14th in the state, BC went on a winning streak, beating Compton 81-34 and LA Pierce 90-35 to start off Western State Conference play.

Figueroa led the team at the Compton game scoring 22 points, and it was Olvera’s first game back. She had eight rebounds and four assists. These two wins would be Dahl’s 299th and 300th during her time as the BC women’s head coach. During the game against Santa Monica, Dahl was awarded a plaque commemorating her 300 wins. Dahl credits it to her persistence and her teams’ hard work throughout the years.

“When you do something long enough you’ll eventually get there,” Dahl said when asked about her award. “I’m thankful. They really shocked me. It’s been good. I’ve been coaching basketball here longer than any male or female coach, and I’m just really glad to be a part of the Renegade nation.”

The Renegades lost that night to Santa Monica 78-73. They were up against Santa Monica by seven points with seven minutes to go, and ended up losing by five. On Jan. 25, the Renegades

beat West LA 79-21 after having their bus break down. Te Velde led the scoring with 23 points, and she also pulled 18 rebounds with four steals. After losing against Santa Monica, this put the Renegades back on track.

On Jan. 28, BC led by 12 points at halftime but lost to College of the Canyons 83-75. Niel

son had 22 points.

The Renegades (2-2 in the conference, 13-9 overall) have four games left in the season, and will play at home Feb. 4 at 5 p.m. against LA Pierce. They travel to Santa Monica on Feb. 8, then finish the regular season at home against West LA (Feb. 11) and Canyons (Feb. 15).