COLLEEN RILEY WINTER CLASSIC CHAMPS!

The Hornets hosted the 42nd Colleen Riley Classic over the weekend and had great success winning both games played to take the Championship.

In game one on Saturday, Fullerton pulled off a hard-fought 58-51 win over a physical Cerritos College squad. The two teams kept it close in first quarter matching one another point for point. By the quarter's end, the Falcon's owned a slight 17-15 lead. The Cerritos offense took off in the second quarter going on a 15-2 run to go up 32-17 at the 7-minute mark. The halftime buzzer sounded, and the Hornets found themselves down 28-17.

The third quarter did not go Fullerton's way either as Cerritos kept pounding the ball inside taking its largest lead of 15 by 7:49 on a layup by Precious Yerena. FC showed some fight in the fourth quarter opening it up with Destiny Goodloe hitting a three-pointer that cut the deficit down to 8 points (40-32). From there, the Hornets went on a 14-6 run tying the game up 46-46. The dogfight was on as both teams duked it out with Fullerton 54-49 advantage on a lay-in by Bri Landeros with a minute left in regulation. With no other choice but to foul, Cerritos could only watch as the Hornets knocked down their free throws to win the game.

In the championship game against Santa Monica College on Sunday, after trailing in the first half, Fullerton pulled off a comeback 77-67 victory. The Corsairs sailed past the Hornets in the swiping a 13-5 lead at 3:39. The quarter ended with a frustrated Fullerton squad that was down 19-10. SMC welcomed the second quarter with a jump shot by Racheal Duru putting her team up by 11. Like the previous game, the Hornets awoke from their slumber and went on a big 17-4 run grabbing their first lead at 27-25. FC maintained a strangle-hold on the lead for the remainder of the game pushing its largest lead of 10 (72-62) with 6:12 left in the game. Second chance points (24-13) and points from turnovers (22-15) made the difference helping Fullerton win the tourney. The last time FC won the Colleen Riley Tournament was during the 2009-10 season under Hall of Fame Head Coach Debi Woelke. The last time the Hornets were in the championship game was during the 2018-19 season under Head Coach Marcia Foster, which was a 65-55 loss to Mt SAC.

The tournament's Consolation game featured San Diego Mesa (3-9 overall) and Cerritos (8-6) with the Falcons winning 69-48.  

The 42nd Colleen Riley Winter Classic All-Tournament Team

MVP - Destiny Goodloe - Fullerton

Niki Madgedi - San Diego Mesa
Ilani Avila - Cerritos
Racheal Duru - Santa Monica
Celise Moreno - Fullerton
Janelle Ramos - Fullerton

Up Next: The Hornets (6-8 overall) will play on again on Wednesday, December 22nd when they travel north to Porterville College. Tipoff is at 2:00 pm.

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