VANQUISHING THE VAQS

In a non-conference matchup Thursday night, the FC women's basketball squad welcomed Santa Barbara City College to the Hornets Nest and vanquished the Vaqueros 65-56.

It was a late third quarter push that gave the Hornets the edge as the first three-quarters of the game were an all-out battle that had 9 ties and 9 lead changes. Fullerton held a small 43-40 lead with two minutes left in the third and then added 5 unanswered points on a jumper by Cienna Keowns along with an "and-one" layup Tia Jaquias giving the Hornets a healthy 48-40 lead.

In the fourth quarter, Tia Jaquias drove the lane for a nice lay-in handing Fullerton its largest lead of ten (52-42) by 5:54. Santa Barbara still had some fight left cutting FC's lead down to three on a deep trey by Kaylee Bosetti just under the 3-minute mark. Soon after, Kaylee Shimoda put a halt to the Vaquero surge with a three-pointer of her own shifting the momentum back to Fullerton. The Hornets ran out the final two minutes of the game holding strong for the team's first victory of 2024.

Leading the way for Fullerton was Tia Jaquias with 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists. Kaylee Shimoda followed with 11 points and 3 steals. Xochitl Hood scored 9 points, had 11 rebounds, and 7 steals. Sarah Shaw dropped in 6 points with 8 boards, while Jasmine Arnold had 6 points, 7 boards, and 5 steals.

Up Next: The Hornets (8-5 overall) will hit the court again this Saturday, January 6th when they pay Chaffey College a non-conference visit. Tip-off is at 1:00 pm.