In a game that came down to the wire, the Citrus College women’s basketball team fell to Barstow College in overtime, 85-84, on Jan. 28 at Citrus College.
Trailing by three, Owls’ sophomore guard Jessica Rosas inbounded the ball and sophomore guard Jasmine Meza hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 84-84 with eight seconds on the clock.
Barstow sophomore center Essence Reece, who had a strong game with 29 points for the Vikings, drew a foul on freshman forward Celeste Fekay with two seconds left in overtime. Reece missed the first free throw, but made the second to hand the Vikings the one-point win.
Citrus head coach Linnae Barber Matthews stayed positive after the loss.
“Despite the loss, we’ve come a long way and we just got to finish the season off strong,” Barber Matthews said.
The first quarter started off slow for the Owls, as the Vikings controlled their possessions with Reece leading the team with 12 boards.
Owls’ sophomore forward Marisa Brown grabbed five rebounds to keep the Owls in the game.
Meza made a three-pointer in the last few seconds to keep the Owls within three points at the end of the first quarter. Barstow shot 57 percent in the first quarter, while the Owls, who shot 40 percent, only trailed 20-17.
Meza boosted the Owls ahead in the second quarter, making 4-6 from the three-point line. The Owls came out on top at the end of the first half at 43-34.
Citrus made 47 percent of its shots in the second quarter and held Barstow to 31 percent shooting in building the lead.
The Vikings came out strong, offensively, but the Owls fought to keep the lead and stepped up on the defensive end.
Barstow cut into Citrus’ lead with a three-pointer from sophomore forward Stephanie Delhumeav to end the third quarter. The Owls led 61-55 after three quarters.
In the fourth, Barstow made another offensive push, making 53 percent of its baskets. Vikings’ Deja Banks made a three-pointer, pushing Barstow into the lead for the first time in the second half.
Rosas made a jumper with under a minute to play and at the end of regulation, the teams were tied at 75, sending the game into overtime.
Both teams got into a quick huddle to craft an overtime strategy. The Vikings were the first to score in overtime with forward/center Asana King making 1-2 free throws. King made 6-8 free throws in the game.
Players from both ends of the floor stepped up and played aggressive defense in crunch time. With 52 seconds left in overtime, the Vikings led 82-77.
Meza drained a three-pointer, narrowing the gap to 82-80. With just 14 seconds left in overtime, the Vikings knocked down a jumper to make the score 84-81.
Meza’s heroics were not enough, as Barstow escaped with the win on Reece’s free throw.
Barber looked ahead to L.A. Valley College, Citrus’ next opponent, and how the team will prepare.
“They’re going to rest, because they need to rest,” Barber Matthews said. “We’ve been going hard and they just need this break to really get themselves ready for the next round.”
The Owls host L.A. Valley College at 5 p.m. Feb. 4 at Citrus College.
