After falling to Cerro Coso on Thursday and winning Friday over Palo Verde, the San Diego City College women’s basketball team found itself in a pivotal moment on Saturday in the three-game, three-day Knights Invitational Tournament at Harry West Gym.
The highly contested game on Saturday against Saddleback College was knotted at 50 with 1:41 remaining in the fourth quarter. Knights’ freshman forward Maddox Weisskopf then drained a three-pointer to put her team up by three.
City then made multiple stops on defense and sophomore guard Justice Shorty converted a layup following an offensive rebound with 43 seconds left to seal the victory, 56-51.
City College head coach Andrea Aguilar-Montalban was proud of her team’s effort at the back end of the strenuous tournament.
“We knew it was going to be a battle, but honestly, our heart just really stepped up today,” Montalban said.
Freshman forward Aamori Daniels led the way for City with 17 points, 12 rebounds, four blocks and two steals. Dahlia Blake aided with a 12-point, 11-rebound effort.
“She’s (Daniels) amazing. She has the biggest heart of anyone,” Montalban said. “She just knows how to find a way so she gives us life when we’re down.”
Saddleback was carried by freshman guard Audrey Chow, whose 26 points led all scorers and accounted for more than half of her team’s points.
The Knights showed resilience after Thursday’s loss (71-52) to Cerro Coso by winning hard-fought games Friday against Palo Verde (79-73) and Saturday against Saddleback, leaving Montalban thrilled with her team’s perseverance.
“We realized that with every loss, we have something to gain from that, and we learned,” Montalban said. “Our job is to get better each and every day. And we’ve definitely pulled that up this weekend.”
City Times Media covered all three games of the Knights Invitational. Continue reading to learn how the Knights fared in the opening games.
– Danny Straus
City beats Palo Verde, 79-73, in Game 2
The San Diego City College women’s basketball team rallied to beat Palo Verde, 79-73, behind a dominating performance from Aamori Daniels, who scored 35 points and had 17 rebounds.
In the second of three games in the Knights Invitational Tournament, both teams battled during a physical first quarter where there were multiple stoppages for injuries.
Despite the sluggish start, City maintained a slight edge at the end of the first quarter, leading, 13-8.
Assistant coach Kiley Pope, a former player at San Diego City College, was part of the PCAC South Conference Championship team in 2017-18 that went undefeated and said this team has put in the work to succeed in these tough environments.
“We have it in us,” Pope said. “We have been training really hard in our weight room and conditioning.”
The Knights used multiple lineups throughout the game as they tried to find a spark, resulting in all 10 City players playing minutes. Captain Liliana Maldonado was instrumental in finding open teammates throughout the game contributing six assists, a steal, and three points in the second quarter alone.
Turnovers and smothering defense resulted in City losing momentum, as the Pirates scored 28 points in the second quarter to take the lead, 36-34, going into the half.
The Knights were outscored again in the third quarter by the Pirates. A series of late turnovers was all the Pirates needed to retain the lead, 59-51, late in the third quarter.
Despite the disappointing quarter, forward Daniels snagged 8 rebounds, scored 9 points, added a steal and a blocked shot in the third quarter alone.
The freshman forward from Fort Valley, Georgia is averaging 16 points and 11 rebounds a game.
Throughout the final stretch of the game, hustle plays and a flurry of shots helped to stabilize the Knights, pulling them ahead, 61-59, with seven minutes to go. Once City hit their stride, the team piled on six straight points to take the lead they would never relinquish, 66-63, late in the fourth quarter.
Turnovers were an issue for the Knights who committed 20 in the game.
One such turnover led to a quick three by the Pirates and five straight points, cutting into the lead with less than three minutes to go in the game. City came right back when Ximena Caballero found a streaking Dahlia Blake for a quick bucket to stop the Pirates’ momentum and increase the lead to 73-68.
Defense and rebounding, a staple of head coach Andrea Aguilar-Montalban’s game philosophy, were on display. Daniels and Blake both blocked a shot in the final minute of the game holding the Pirates to just 14 points in the fourth quarter.
The Knights were all smiles and a giant cheer came from the locker room following the team’s first victory of the Knights Invitational.
“We’re healthy right now, so I think we’re going to pick up our ball pressure,” Pope said following the victory. “We’re going to be a little bit more intense on defense, and I think that’s going to help us.”
– David J. Bohnet
City falls to Cerro Coso, 71-52
In the first of a three-game Knights’ Invitational Tournament at Harry West Gym, the San Diego City College women’s basketball team lost to the Cerro Coso Coyotes, 71-52, on Nov. 21.
The Knights had trouble finding their rhythm in the first half, committing 16 turnovers and giving up 33 points.
Down 16 points, the Knights returned from halftime fired up on defense, turnover conversion brought the Coyotes’ lead down to 13 points.
But the temporary shift in the momentum wasn’t enough to halt the Coyotes’ momentum on offense in the second half.
Freshman Dahlia Blake and freshman Aamori Daniels’ contributions were both shy of double-doubles by a point and rebound, respectively.
Blake finished with 9 points, one assist and 10 rebounds. Daniels ended with 15 points and nine rebounds.
Sophomore guard Liliana Maldonado led the team in scoring with 18 points, three assists and three rebounds in their tournament’s opening game.
The Knights shot 29.7% (19-of-64) from the field, 15.8% (3-of-19) from the three-point line and 64.7% (11-of-17) from the free-throw line.
Montalban shared what the team was looking to improve for the next game.
“Today we learned a valuable lesson about staying tough and staying disciplined,” Montalban said. “So tomorrow we’re going to do that, we’re going to stay disciplined and we’re going to take it out on the team we play tomorrow.”
The Knights will return to action with back-to-back games in the Knights’ Crossover at Harry West Gym, Thursday, Dec. 5, against College of the Desert at 7 p.m. and Friday, Dec. 6, against Barstow College at 3 p.m.
– Tresean Osgood
