Dons Drop Close One to Gauchos in OEC Contest

Dons Drop Close One to Gauchos in OEC Contest

SANTA ANA, Calif. – Despite having three Dons score in double digits, the Santa Ana women's basketball team dropped a close one to Saddleback College 71-68 on Wednesday night.

The Dons threw the first punch in the first quarter, closing with an 18-14 lead behind 12 points from Lexi Ross. But in the second quarter, the Gauchos found a hole in the Santa Ana defense as they went off for 24 points with four threes to take a 38-34 lead at the half.

In the second half the two teams went back and forth until the Dons found themselves down 71-68 with 20 seconds left and possession of the ball.

Santa Ana had two good looks from three but could not knock one down to send the game to overtime.

Ross went for a game high 24 points while Nyla Bivens followed with 15 points and Cailey Vitug finished with 10.

The Dons drop to 5-15, 1-6 while the Gauchos earn their first conference win to improve to 4-13, 1-6.  

BY THE NUMBERS

The Dons left a ton of points on the table in this one as they shot just 33.3 percent (8-24) from the free throw line. They did have the advantage in turnovers (17-11) and fast break points (10-0) but it wasn't enough to get the win.

UP NEXT

On Friday, the Dons will be back at home to host Copper Mountain (7-11,2-5) at 5:00 p.m. Copper Mountain earned the 72-54 win in the first matchup.