Gauchos dominate opener over Rio Hondo

The Saddleback women's basketball team opened the season with a 88-50 win over Rio Hondo College on Friday at the Mt. San Antonio College Linda G. Smith Memorial Tip-Off Classic.  The Gauchos led by 21 at the half and never looked back.

Saddleback has a ton of new players in 2017-18 and with the new faces comes new questions about how well they will work together.  The Gauchos looked as if they had been playing together for years, cruising past the Roadrunners in dominating fashion.

Saddleback led by 21 at the half after racing to a 42-21 lead.  The game was close in the early minutes before the Gauchos made a run and never looked back.

Freshman Kayla De Leon had a big night, scoring a game-high 26 points.  When she wasn't putting the ball in the net, she was dishing it to others as she also finished with seven assists. 

Saddleback finished with four players in double-figures as De Leon was joined by Raven Herrington (14), Bree Shepard (13) and Madelynn Gray (12) in double-digits.  Maybe the most impressive stat line of the afternoon was the Gauchos finishing with only eight turnovers while compiling 22 assists.

Saddleback will play in the tournament semifinals Long Beach City College on Saturday night.  LBCC was a 99-41 winner over College of the Desert in the tournament opener.  Tipoff between the Gauchos and Vikings is set for 5:00 PM in the Mt. San Antonio College Gymnasium.