SANTA ANA, Calif. – The Santa Ana Women's Basketball team had a chance to bridge the gap between themselves and the third place Riverside City Tigers in an Orange Empire Conference game on Wednesday night. Though the Dons (9-12, 4-5) started off strong with an early lead, they fell to No. 14 ranked Riverside City (16-7,7-2) by a score of 73-62.
Santa Ana was looking to turn their luck around and end a two game losing streak, while the Tigers were coming off a 92-66 win over Orange Coast to stay in third place. The two teams remain in the same spot in the OEC standings after the night's results.
Alexis Casillas had another solid game for the Dons, scoring 16 points with 12 rebounds and five assists for her fifth straight double-double and her 11th of the season. Cheryl Caldera picked up her play to lead the Dons in scoring with 18 points, while Giana Luna came off the bench to give Santa Ana another scoring punch, putting up 15 points on 4-7 shooting.
The Dons outshot the Tigers from both three-point range and from the field but lost the battle on the glass. With a 56-39 advantage on the boards, Riverside scored 24 points off second chance points to do some real damage to the Dons inside.
Santa Ana's bright spot came from the play of their bench, outscoring the Tigers 17-10, with the bulk of that coming from Luna's performance.
Next, the Dons look forward to a rematch against Saddleback College, who they defeated 62-56 early in the month. The game will take place at Saddleback on Friday, Feb. 2nd at 5:00 p.m.
