Owls Cruise in Opener of MSJC Tourney

San Jacinto, CA -- The Citrus College Women's Basketball program opened up its 2015-2016 tournament slate early on Friday evening in the San Jacinto Lion's Club Lady Eagle Tip-Off Tournament. The Owls took on Victor Valley College and cruised to the semi-finals with a 69-51 victory.

The Owls jumped all over the Rams from the tip scoring the first seven points and nine of the first 11. Victor Valley would pull to within five with just over three minutes left in the first quarter, but a jumper by freshman Damianna Bagues and three-point play by sophomore Janae Chamois pushed the Owls lead to 10.

From that point forward Citrus never led by less than six points. Frehsman Joy Adao would hit a three ball late in the second quarter that pushed the Owls up to a 13 point lead. VVC would cut it down to 11 with 56 seconds left, but a free-throw by freshman Marisol Chavez-Delgado with 32 seconds left made it 33-21 at the break in favor of Citrus.

In the third quarter, Citrus pulled away for good. The Owls built their lead up to 49-27, 22 points after a field goal by Chavez-Delgado, for their largest lead of the night. The Rams would have a nice fourth quarter, even outscoring Citrus 22-18 in that stretch, but the Owls lead was too much to overcome.

Citrus got a nice balanced effort from all over the floor in the win. Chavez-Delgado led all scorers with 16 points. Chamois added 12 and sophomore Allison Zalin had 10. Zalin also recorded her first career double-double by adding a team high 10 boards, while Chamois led the way with a game high five steals.

With the win, Citrus improves to 2-0 on the young season. The Owls will have a tall task on their hands on Saturday evening when they take on their weekend's host in Mt. San Jacinto College who started the season ranked #4 in Southern California. Tip-off is set for 6:00 PM.