WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: HORNETS FINISH STRONG

The Hornets went down to Saddleback College on Thursday night and took care of business beating the Gauchos 62-59 in overtime.

Just like their first meeting this season, Fullerton and Saddleback went down to the wire battling it out in overtime. Fullerton took the home-loss on that one 75-73. The difference on Thursday was that FC played another complete and passionate game for the win.

In the first quarter, Saddleback went up 4-0 at 9:01, but the Hornets fought back to take a 5-4 lead by 5:04 on two free throws by Monica Hanna. With 1:49 left in the quarter, Tristian Johns nailed a three-pointer putting Fullerton up 10-6. The Gaucho's Janae Omusi drove the lane tying the game up at 10-10 by the end of the first quarter.

It was looking bleak for Fullerton in the second quarter as Saddleback took pushed in on their largest lead of the game (7 points) at 22-15 with 4:25 left in the half. FC did their best to chip away getting within 4 (22-18) by halftime.

At just under eight minutes in the third quarter, Fullerton climbed back into it taking their first lead since the first quarter, 25-23, on another three-pointer by Tristian Johns. By the quarter's end, the Gauchos snatched back the lead at 38-36.

It was FC's Nancy De La Cruz who sent the game into overtime (54-54) after hitting a crucial three-point shot with 23 seconds left in the game. 

The Hornet defense kicked in as they held the Gauchos to only five points during the overtime period. Crucial free throws were made by Melody Thomsen to ice the game with 8 seconds left. Saddleback's deep three-point attempt fell short as Fullerton held on for the win.

Tristian Johns had another big game scoring a team-high 18 points for Fullerton. Tianna Buford and Melody Thomsen both contributed 11 points to the win. Buford also had 11 rebounds for a double-double night. Monica Hanna scored 8 points and brought down 11 rebounds. 

The Hornets finished the season with an overall record of 12-16 and an Orange Empire Conference record of 4-8. After a slow start in conference-play, Fullerton turned it around in the end beating two of the better teams in the OEC. Head coach Marcia Foster has the FC program going in the right direction, and they will be ready to make a strong push for the title next season.