SANTA ANA, Calif. - The Santa Ana College Women's Basketball team hosted five teams in their annual tournament from December 5-7. This year, the tournament had a new format as each team played three predetermined matchups. The field included the following teams: Bakersfield College, LA Harbor College, Pasadena City College, Riverside City College, San Diego Mesa College and Santa Ana College.
SAC (8-2) started the tournament with a 57-44 loss to the San Diego Mesa Olympians before bouncing back with a couple blowout wins over Bakersfield and Pasadena City.
In game one, the Dons battled with the Olympians but just could not overcome a poor shooting night. Santa Ana finished the game shooting 25.4 percent (16-63) from the field and 12.5 percent (2-16) from behind the arc. The Dons also struggled on the glass as they were outrebounded 55-27.
The bright spot for the Dons was the performance of freshman point guard Mia Rivera. In 37 minutes of action, the standout out of Cerritos posted a season high 20 points to go with a couple of rebounds, two steals and an assist.
Fortunately for Santa Ana, they got an opportunity to respond right away with the quick turnaround on Friday.
In their game against the Bakersfield Renegades, four of five SAC starters scored in double digits while they improved their effort on the boards, winning the rebound battle 54-30.
Rivera had another good showing, scoring 10 with 10 boards for her first double-double of the year while fellow freshman Anaya Beard recorded her fourth with 17 points and 16 rebounds.
Aisleigh Canaday and Kiki Graham scored 11 a piece while Larissa Robles closed the night with nine points, seven assists a block and a steal. The Dons also got some production from their bench as Katelyn Morales and Jayleen Rivera had six each.
On Saturday, Santa Ana wrapped up the tournament with another dominant performance as they defeated the PCC Lancers 87-51.
The Dons saw their offense come full circle with one of their best outputs of their year. They shot 51.6 percent from the field and a season high 54.2 percent from three to run away with the win.
Beard posted a game high 26 points, going 11-of-15 from the field while Morales came off the bench to hit six threes for 18 points.
Rivera closed the tournament with a 11 point, eight assist night. The freshman was one of the five players named to the All-Tournament team.
The Dons are now 8-2 after the tournament and still have a handful of games to improve before hitting conference play. SAC will take a break until they go on the road again for the El Camino Cross Over starting on December 16th.
