WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: THE COLLEEN RILEY TOURNAMENT

The Hornets wrapped up their non-conference schedule this week hosting the 38th Annual Colleen Riley Holiday Tournament winning one out of three games.

On Tuesday, FC opened the tournament with a big 85-22 win over LA Pierce College. The next day, Fullerton faced off against Long Beach City College in the semi-finals and lost 51-39. In the Third Place game on Thursday, the Hornets lost 72-56 at the hands of Santa Monica College.

Fullerton 85 vs. LA Pierce 22

The Hornets took an early 5-0 lead and kept the Brahmas at bay for the rest of the game. FC shot 41.3% from the field while LA Pierce shot 14%. Fullerton freshman Tristian Johns came off the bench to lead all scorers with 17 points. She also added 7 rebounds and 4 steals. Monica Hanna had 11 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 blocked shots. Nancy De La Cruz, Melody Thomsen, and Raelynn Denson each scored 9 points. Kristen Sheriff and Marcella Tanuvasa both put up 8 points each.

Fullerton 39 vs. Long Beach 51

The semi-final game was a complete reverse of the previous game as Fullerton came out cold shooting only 21% to the Vikings' 42.3%. FC had their only lead (2-0) at 7:55 in the first quarter, but Long Beach quickly erased it taking control of the entire game. Kristen Sheriff led the Hornets in scoring with 11 points. Monica Hanna contributed 9 points with 9 rebounds. Tristian Johns scored 8 points and brought down 6 rebounds.

Fullerton 56 vs Santa Monica 72

Fullerton quickly fell behind in the first quarter 6-2, but they got hot going on a 17-4 run to take a 19-10 lead by the quarter's end. At 7:55 in the second quarter, FC had a healthy 28-19 lead over the Corsairs thanks to a three-pointer by Tristian Johns. Santa Monica had some fight left as they made their move stealing away the Hornet's momentum to take a 32-20 lead by halftime. The third and fourth quarters belonged to the Corsairs as FC got cold shooting only 21.6% from the field. Tristian Johns had another strong game scoring 15 points and bringing down 9 rebounds. Monica Hanna matched her teammate scoring 15 points of her own. She also had 11 rebounds. Tianna Buford came off the bench to score 10 points with 7 rebounds. Buford also added 3 assists and 3 steals.

The 38th Colleen Riley Holiday Tournament Champion was Mt. San Antonio College who beat Long Beach City College 69-38 in the title game. The Mounties are currently 16-1 overall and head into 2017 as the #3 team in the state.

Up Next: The Hornets (8-8 overall) will begin Orange Empire Conference-play on Wednesday, January 4th at 5:00 pm at home against Cypress College. Come on out and support your Hornets!

Click Here for the Tournament Bracket.

*Photo by Matt Brown

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