SANTA ANA - The Dons held off a late surge by College of the Desert to grab a 60-55 win while advancing in the championship bracket of the 2012 Santa Ana College Tournament.
Leading by as many as 14 points in the second half, the Dons were forced to rely on late free throws as the Roadrunners rallied in the final five minutes. Desert used a three-pointer with 4:56 left to pull within single digits for the first time since the first half.
The Roadrunners continued to push the Dons, getting as close as three points with 1:22 left. But Liliana Gonzalez hit a pair of free throws in the final 15 seconds to help the Dons hold on to the victory. Prior to Gonzalez' free throws, the Dons had missed their previous four free throw attempts.
The Dons built their 10-point lead at the half despite shooting just 30% from the field as a team. The lead was helped by an 11-point performance by Ashley Whisler while Berlin Ohanesian chipped another nine points while grabbing eight rebounds.
Another factor that pushed the Dons to the double-digit lead at the half was a combination of Desert shooting just 26% while committing 14 turnovers in the first half. The Dons, on the other hand, only committed eight turnovers.
Ohanesian finished the game as the leading scorer with 17 points while also grabbing 13 rebounds. Whisler followed with 16 points while Carly Ducat added 10 points. Desert was led by Emily Underwood with 15 points and 14 rebounds while Juanita Cervantes scored 11 points.
SAC Tournament Day One Recap - Brackets
In the early games of the tournament, Long Beach City College defeated San Diego Mesa College 71-3 37 while Moorpark College defeated Bakersfield College 63-42. Those two games set up the first matchups for Friday with Long Beach and Moorpark meeting in the winner's bracket at 6:00 p.m. with the winner advancing to the championship game while the loser moves to the third-place game.
San Diego Mesa and Bakersfield will meet in the consolation bracket at 2:00 p.m. The loser of that game will be eliminated while the winner will move on to the consolation championship.
The Dons will now face Merced College in the other semifinal game at 8:00 p.m. while Desert moves into the consolation bracket to face Mira Costa.
