Flames Make it a Nail-Biter, But Fall in Final Minute

Bethesda women's basketball team fought hard after falling behind early, but fell short in a 54-51 loss against San Diego Christian on Saturday at the Grossmont College.

The Hawks led by 11 points with 3:36 remaining in the game before the Flames hit shot-after-shot. The Gold and Blue (3-11) rallied and had the game within two points in the game's final minute, but were unable to complete the comeback against the Hawks (10-1). A jumper by senior Adelina Vanaga dropped the deficit to nine points. Bethesda then scored in three straight possessions from Victoria Jackson's back-to-back steals but the Hawks held on to a 51-49 lead. 

Jazmine Bradley made 1-of-2 free throws with 1:35 left. Estela Gutierrez came back with a savvy spin-move, fade-away jumper for Bethesda cutting the lead to one with 1:24 remaining. Unfortunately, Bethesda missed the next three shot attempts and the Hawks sealed the win with two free throws with 14 seconds left. The Flames had a chance to tie the game but a turnover with 11 seconds remaining rid them of any attempt at a final shot.

Gabby Robledo led the Flames with 15 points and 9 rebounds. Victoria Jackson also scored 10 and added 5 steals off the bench. DQ Townsend contributed 11 rebounds and 8 points. The Flames maintained the score close with their zone defense and efficient rebounding. At half time, the Flames had out rebounded the Hawks 31-19 and finished the game with 50 rebounds to SDCC's 46. It was the Flames' assignment to hold the Hawks to less than 50 points for the game. "We know that they like to control the tempo of games and speed the game up with their press, so we were determined to slow them down and make them play defense." Coach Medina mentioned. "This is a team that averages 80 points per game. I am proud of the defensive effort tonight. We are still only performing at a '6,' we need to get closer to a '10 out of 10' effort on both ends of the court."

"There was a lot of energy in the building that really got us going, especially at the end of the game and when we made our late run" junior guard Gabby Robledo said. The Flames had a large crowd of supporters in attendance. "It was an exciting night all together." Coach Medina said after the game. "We have to keep learning and improving. Turnovers still continue to haunt us. We keep giving games away. To think that we lost by just three but had a ridiculous 27 turnovers! If we had cut those in half, this game would have been an entirely different game."

The Flames travel to UC Merced on Tuesday for a rematch of the previous 5 point loss game at Saddleback College. From there, they head north to play a strong George Fox University program.