Out-Benched

Rancho Cucamonga, CA -- Despite a solid effort, the Citrus College Women's Basketball team came up on the wrong side of things on Friday evening in the opening round of the 2014 Panther Pride Tournament hosted by Chaffey College in a 67-59 loss. The Owls were out-benched by Saddleback College whose bench outscored the Owls' 42-11.

Citrus scored the game's first points thanks to a lay-up by sophomore Bobbie Johnson, but soon thereafter Saddleback took control and led through the first half. The Gauchos built up a lead as large as 11 points midway through, but the Owls got it down to six thanks to a jumper in the lane by freshman Alexandria Cano with seconds remaining in the half.

The Gauchos maintained their lead in the second half, taking their largest lead of the game at 14 with 10:58 to go. At about that time Citrus went to work, whittling the Saddleback lead down to two with 3:24 after a pair of free-throws from Johnson. The Owls didn't get any closer though as they turned the ball over on five of their next six possessions to close out the game.

In the loss, Citrus was paced by sophomore Tyvette White's team high 18 points. Johnson added 12 points and 10 rebounds.

With the loss, Citrus drops to 2-3 on the year. The Owls will be back out at Chaffey College on Saturday taking on Southwestern College at 2:00 PM in the second consolation semi-final contest of the day.