After starting the season 2-7, the San Diego City College women’s basketball team has found its rhythm, winning its last four games.
Following two wins in two games in the Knights Invitational Tournament, the Knights won in back-to-back days against College of the Desert and Barstow College on Dec. 5 and 6 in the Knights Crossover Tournament.
City won with two different styles of play, putting up a season-high 110 points against Desert before locking down on defense against Barstow.
Here’s how the Knights fared in the pair of games.
City uses stifling defense to upend Barstow, 66-37
The Knights defeated Barstow College on Friday in a defensive showcase in which they held the Vikings to 17 points in the first half and 20 in the second. The 37 points allowed is the lowest the Knights have given up all season.
Barstow came into the game averaging 35 turnovers and City’s defense helped raise that number.
The Knights forced a season-high 41 turnovers, with Vikings guard Bailey Solano accounting for 17.
City College head coach Andrea Aguilar-Montalban feels like her team is now on the same page defensively.
“The girls were finally communicating with each other on the court,” Aguilar-Montalban said. “They stepped up, and they made the adjustments that we needed to.”
The Knights got off to a slow start on offense, scoring 9 points in the first quarter and 25 points in the first half.
City then erupted for a 27-point third quarter, ballooning their lead up to 21 points, after being up eight at halftime.
The Knights were led by a 28-point, 10-rebound performance from freshman center Dahlia Blake.
Freshman forward Aamori Daniels added 12 points, nine rebounds and four steals off the bench.
Montalban hopes that the Knights don’t get complacent despite their winning streak.
“We gotta keep working together,” Aguilar-Montalban said. “It takes all five of them, plus the ones on the bench coming in. So that’s why we want to make sure that we continue to work together, and everyone’s got to contribute.”
– Danny Straus
City beats College of the Desert, 110-65
Early into the first quarter of the Knights’ game against the Roadrunners on Thursday, College of the Desert’s 5-foot-6 forward Vanessa Bravo was pulled out of the game when she was elbowed during a scramble for the ball.
With no reserves on the bench, the Roadrunners pressed on with only four players on the court in hopes of ending their three-game losing streak.
With 3:30 in the fourth quarter, the Knights scored a free throw and two layups by Alexa Munoz and Dahlia Blake, respectively, in a one-minute scoring run to bring the Knights score to 104.
The College of the Desert had only four of their six-player roster out on the court for the rest of the game.
The Roadrunners were trying their best to stay close and climb out of the 43-point hole City College dug for them, but the Knights’ defensive movement and numbers advantage closed out the game, 110-65, to extend City’s win streak to three games.
Daniels established her size advantage over the Roadrunners, finishing the game with 28 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks. Daniels showed her efficiency by making 12-of-16 (75%) from the field and 4-of-5 (80%) from the free-throw line.
Liliana Maldonado led the team in assists this game, dishing 11 out of City’s 32 assists. She finished with eight points and eight rebounds as well.
Aguilar-Montalban said the team stayed focused despite the numbers advantage.
“They struggled with that at the beginning, because we have essentially one person in a zone while the rest of them are on man,” Aguilar-Montalban said. “They kind of got confused a couple of times on whether they stay with their person or not.”
City’s last game of 2024 will be at El Camino on Dec. 13 at 5 p.m. The Knights will start the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference season at home against Imperial Valley on Jan. 8 at 5 p.m.
–Tresean Osgood
