SANTA ANA, Calif. – The Santa Ana women's basketball team returned to Cook Gym on Tuesday night for a rematch against Santa Barbara City College in the first game of the El Camino Crossover.
SAC entered the game with a two game winning streak after defeating LA Harbor 81-58 and Santa Barbara 75-69 in the Allan Hancock Tournament in the first weekend of December. Although the Dons held a lead for the majority of the game, a 25-14 scoring advantage in the fourth quarter helped SBCC get revenge with a 65-60 win.
In the first half, the teams seemed evenly matched as they went into halftime with just a one point difference (30-29) in favor of Santa Ana. Both teams went on runs with the Dons outplaying SBCC in the first quarter to build a 14-10 run while Santa Barbara responded with their own run to cut the lead to one in the second quarter.
The Dons then came out of the break with a different mindset, attacking the rim early and often. With 10 trips to the line in the quarter, Santa Ana extended its lead to six (46-41).
But the Dons failed to carry that momentum into the fourth quarter and saw that lead dwindle as SBCC went 11-17 (64.7 %) from the field including three long balls to score 25 points in the last 10 minutes for the come from behind victory.
Freshman guard Nicole Robles scored a team high 16 points on 6-8 shooting while Brianna Aluva recorded 13 points with five rebounds and three assists.
Emily Newkirk and Shayla Sweet gave the Dons a nice boost off the bench as they combined for 10 points and eight rebounds.
UP NEXT: Santa Ana will face Long Beach at home on Thursday night in the second game of the El Camino Crossover. Game time is set for 5:00 p.m.