Gauchos come up short in OEC opener

The Saddleback women's basketball team came up short on opening night of Orange Empire Conference play, falling to Riverside City College 56-51.  Teoncea Bennett had a big night for the Gauchos as a late rally came up short.

Bennett kept Saddleback in the opening half, scoring 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting from the field.  Saddleback maintained a close distance with red hot shooting from the free throw line, making 10-of-14 to head into the locker room down 33-30.

Riverside opened things up in the third quarter as Saddleback couldn't buy a basket to open the second half.  The Gauchos were held scoreless over the first 4.5 minutes, falling behind by as many as 13 points midway through the quarter.  Saddleback never got on track in the quarter, making just one basket from the field in falling behind 47-35 at the end of three quarters. 

Bennett did her best to keep Saddleback in the game as the Gauchos made a run.  She drained a three-pointer with 8:57 remaining, cutting the deficit to 47-38.  Hannah Saliba then drained a hook shot from the lane with 7:07 remaining and the lead dwindled to 49-41.  Jakira Muse cut the lead to six with a jumper from 12-feet at the 4:07 mark and seconds later the Gauchos made a steal and Bennett converted with a layup to cut the lead to 51-47. 

Riverside couldn't buy a basket in the closing quarter, scoring just two points over a 4:32 span.  The Tigers finally broke the drought when Jessica Reed hit a baseline runner with 1:35 remaining, giving Riverside a 53-48 lead. The Tigers increased the lead to 54-48 when Jordon Lofton made 1-of-2 free throws with 1:02 remaining.  Bennett responded by draining a three-pointer with 53.5 seconds left, cutting the deficit to 54-51.

Riverside had a chance to close out the game in the final minute, but Paradise Hanchett missed 3-of-4 free throws as the Tigers clung to a 55-51 lead.    Saddleback, however, couldn't get anything to fall in the final half-minute as Riverside walked away with a hard-fought win.

Bennett finished with a game-high 22 points on the night, finishing 9-of-25 from the field. 

Saddleback will play again on Wednesday when it hosts Cypress College.  Game time is scheduled for 7:00 PM.