Marauders: Two Strong Quarters Enough To Top Owls

The Women's Basketball team learned the hard way tonight that two quarters isn't enough to seal wins. In a conference matchup against visiting Antelope Valley, Citrus played outstanding basketball, but unfortunately that only came in the 2nd and 3rd quarters as the Marauders topped the Owls 57-48. 

Citrus started the first quarter looking a bit out of rhythm and struggled to contain the height that Antelope Valley stacked in the middle and the lightening quick ball handling of their point guard. Antelope Valley would end the 1st quarter with double Citrus' points and Citrus would be just 16.7% from the field. But the Owls came out fighting in the second, going on several runs and fighting to contain guard Deja Smith and slow down the strong paint play of Shantanel Bivens. Citrus shot much better, sinking 40% of their shots from the field and forcing key turnovers. 

The Owls closed the gap going into halftime, down just 9 points after what started as a blowout. The second half would be the best all night for the Owls as they shot 46% from the field and outplayed the Marauders in every statistical category. 

But the balloon would pop in the fourth quarter as Antelope Valley dominated the rest of the game, outscoring Citrus 20-8. The Owls would end the game down by 9, but the promise of the well played 2nd and 3rd quarters was still fresh on the minds of the Owls players. Ending the night with strong numbers were Marisol Chavez-Delgado, who dropped 16 points and snagged 6 rebounds; Mariah Sierra who only scored 6 points on the night but filled in the gaps for her team with a hard earned 8 rebounds, 4 assists and a blocked shot; and Jezteni Espinoza who got into double digits with 11 points and snagged 3 steals.

Citrus drops to .500 on the season with an 11-11 overall record, and drops to 1-3 in conference. The Owls suit up again Saturday as they travel to Barstow for anther conference matchup. Tipoff is at 3:00 PM.