Tournament Trouble Continues for Owls

El Cajon, CA -- For the second straight tournament a close semi-final loss by the Citrus College Women's Basketball team was followed by another loss in the third place game. After dropping a close contest with State #8 Long Beach City on Saturday night, Citrus did it again losing to tournament host Grossmont 45-44 on Sunday.

In addition to their second straight loss, the Owls suffered their second straight tough shooting night as they shot 25% from the floor. The shooting woes wouldn't start till later in the contest, as Citrus scored the first six points of the night, getting one free throw each from sophomore Ariana Caffey and Jaelyn Wilson, a jumper from Wilson and another one from freshman Natalie Lam that made it 6-0 less than three minutes in.

Citrus would keep the lead for the next seven minutes, until Grossmont briefly took their first lead at 11-10 with 10:43 to go, but Lam quickly got it back for the Owls with a trey that made it 13-11 with 10:19 left in the first half. That would be the last time Citrus led in the first half, as Grossmont grabbed it back at the 9:17 mark and pushed it to as much as eight points with just under three minutes to go.

The Owls would rally down the stretch seven of the final nine points of the first half, using a three from sophomore Sarah Rebibo a jumper from Caffey, and a pair of free-throws from freshman Jasmin Longtin to go in the break, down 29-26.

In the second half, Citrus would briefly take the lead back when sophomore Nicole Zugasti's basket with 12:30 to go made it 33-31. The two teams would trade the lead back and forth a few times, with the Owls' last lead coming with 2:54 left on the clock after a free-throw from Wilson made it 42-41 for Citrus.

Grossmont tied it up three possessions later on the back end of a pair of free-throws and then got a three ball on their very next time down the floor to make it 45-42 in the favor of the Griffins. Citrus answered with a two pointer from Zugasti to cut the lead to one point, but Citrus turned the ball over and missed a three in their final two possessions as they suffered their fifth loss of the year.

In the loss, Citrus was led by Lam who scored a team and season high 13 points. Zugasti recorded just her second double-double of the year with 11 points and a season high 13 rebounds. She also added four assists and a pair of steals while playing a team high 37 minutes for Citrus.

With the loss, Citrus falls to 10-5 on the year. The Owls have just one more pre-conference game on their 2012-2013 schedule remaining, and that will take place next Saturday, January 5th, at Allan Hancock College (4-11). Tip-off is set for 3:00 PM in Santa Maria.