Sophomore Aliyah Montiel led Rio Hondo College with 16 points and 7 steals in a 70-65 loss to No. 10 Southern California-ranked Irvine Valley College on Wednesday night in Whittier. The loss dropped Rio Hondo to 3-5 overall while Irvine Valley improved to 4-2 this season.

Rio Hondo trailed by just three points at halftime, 27-24, before Irvine Valley outscored the Roadrunners 21-12 in the 3rd quarter to put the game out of reach.

Montiel was the lone Roadrunner to score in double-digits. Sophomore Raquel Romero was next with 9 points and a team-best 5 assists. Freshman Sammy Flores posted 8 points and 4 assists while sophomore Marisa DeLeon had 7 points and 5 rebounds. Freshman Destinee Garr led Rio Hondo on the boards with 8 rebounds to go with 4 points.

After dropping a pair of games at home, Rio Hondo will hit the road next weekend (Dec. 8-10) to compete at the Irvine Valley College Tournament. The Roadrunners open the tourney on Thursday at 4 p.m. against Orange Coast College.