Women's Basketball Season Comes to an End in State Sweet Sixteen

The MSJC women's basketball team saw their season come to an end on Saturday night as they lost on the road at Orange Coast in the 3C2A Regional Finals 88-66.

The Eagles fell behind early, but battled back on numerous occasions to give themselves a chance heading into the final period.  MSJC moved to within 8 points at 71-63 with 7:25 to play in the game when Breyonna Bell connected on a pair of free throws.  Unfortunatley, the Eagles offense went cold from there as they managed to make just one field goal in the fourth quarter and that did not come until there were just 30 seconds left in the game.  The Pirates took advantage and went on a 17-0 run in the fourth to put the game away and secure a spot in the State Elite Eight for the second straight year.  

Bell, who earned Inland Empire Athletic Conference Player of the Year honors this season, finished the game with 20 points to lead the Eagle offense.  She also had 7 rebounds, 6 steals, and 5 assists to top off her impressive freshman season.  Valeria Brewer scored 14 points for MSJC while Vika Afungia came off the bench to score 12 and grab 6 rebounds.  Drasoni Kyles also reached double figures in scoring with 10 and sophomore forward Jana Roman finished off her stand out MSJC career with 8 points and 9 rebounds, Jana was a two time First Team All-IEAC selection.  OCC's Bridgette McIntyre led all scorers in the game with 23, she connected on five three point shots.

The Eagles, under first year head coach Taylor Bell, wrapped up the season with an impressive 23-5 record and earned the program's sixth straight conference title. MSJC was making their 17th straight play-off appearance.  The Pirates, who are the defending State Champions improved to 27-3 on the season with the victory.