SANTA ANA, Calif. - The Santa Ana College Women's Basketball team earned its first Orange Empire Conference (OEC) win of the year with a 67-61 victory over the Fullerton Hornets (10-9, 1-2) on Friday night.
After playing a solid first half, Santa Ana (6-12, 1-3) still found themselves down 38-35 at the break following a late three pointer from the Hornets. But a 14 to 4 run to start the third quarter pushed the Dons ahead as they took their largest lead of the game (7 points - 4:51) after a couple Le'Lani Bell free throws.
The Hornets then answered with their own run to cut the lead to two (51-49) entering the fourth. It was a battle from that point as the two teams went blow for blow until the Dons came up with two straight stops and followed them with buckets by Brianna Urena and Selena Hernandez to go up five (66-61) with just 29 seconds remaining in the game.
Santa Ana closed the game 9-0 run to secure a huge win while stopping the Hornets from keeping pace in the OEC standings.
The Dons benefitted from a good shooting night as they finished with 41.8 field goal percentage including a 42.9 (6-14) percent mark from three to outscore the Hornets.
Selena Hernandez stayed hot as she knocked down four threes on her way to 18 points while grabbing eight boards. Brianna Urena filled up the stat sheet with 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists to run the show for the Dons.
The trio of sophomore starters, Le'Lani Bell, Sophia Escalante and Crystal Moreno, was huge as they played their roles to help lift Dons to a win. The veterans combined for 22 points, 14 rebounds, seven steals and five assists.
In addition, the SAC bench stepped up in several ways with Chelsea Caldera providing an offensive boost as the forward recorded seven points, five rebounds and four assists while Sarah Henry controlled the paint with three blocks and three boards.
Santa Ana hopes to gain some steam as they attempt to upset the undefeated No. 2 ranked Orange Coast Pirates (19-0, 3-0) next Friday, January 20th at 5:00 p.m.
�� The Dons knocked off Fullerton 67-61 for their first OEC win of the year!
— SAC Dons (@SACDons) January 14, 2023
Selena Hernandez - 18pts | 8rbs
Brianna Urena - 18pts | 7 rbs | 6ast
Sophia Escalante - 8pts | 4stl | 6rbs
Crystal Moreno - 8pts | 6rbs
Chelsea Caldera - 7pts | 5rbs | 4stl#SACDons pic.twitter.com/dQcRrQinuX