Glendora, CA (Women’s Basketball) -- The Citrus College Women’s Basketball team accomplished something they haven’t done in the past eight years on Saturday night in their WSC South home opener. The Owls derailed State #15 College of the Canyons for the first time since 2004 in a 57-52 win over the Cougars.
Things started off slowly for the Owls as Canyons scored first and led for the opening nine minutes of the game. The Cougars’ lead would be as large as six points around the 12:33 mark when the Owls went on an 11-0 run. The stretch would last nearly ten minutes as Citrus kept Canyons scoreless for the entire period.
The run would be jumpstarted by a three pointer from sophomore Brianna Barfield, and was capped off by a layup from freshman Alexis Arnold off an assist from sophomore Jasmine Cox. Citrus’ last points in the run would come with 2:35 left in the half and put the Owls up 18-13.
Canyons would finally break their drought with a pair of free-throws and a mini 6-0 ruin of their own, but the Owls scored the final four points of the half thanks to a trey from sophomore Julia Tani and one of two free-throws from Barfield that gave Citrus a 22-19 advantage at the half.
In the second half, Citrus continued to apply pressure to the Cougars, pushing their lead to 10 points five minutes in, after another Tani three ball made it 33-23. Canyons wouldn’t go quietly though and slowly chipped away at the Owl lead getting it down to one point with a little over five minutes to go.
Shortly thereafter, Canyons took the lead back briefly 43-42, but the Owls didn’t panic, scoring four straight and going back up 46-43 after a jumper in the paint from freshman Kenya Thomas. From that point forward, Citrus’ lead was never larger than three points until the final seconds of the game.
The Cougars would cut the lead to two points with 22 seconds left but a pair of free-throws from both Barfield and Tani would give the Owls all the cushion they would need.
In the win, Citrus was led by Thomas’ team high 15 points. Cox did everything by score as she pulled down 14 rebounds, handed out four assists, recorded two steals and blocked five shots. Freshman point guard Sarah Rebibo rounded out the superlatives with seven points, four assists, and four steals.
With the win, Citrus improves to 13-4 overall and 2-0 in WSC South play. The win also sets up a big early conference showdown with LA Valley College next Wednesday at LA Valley. Tip-off is set for 5:00 PM.
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