Women’s Basketball: Roadrunners reach finals of Mt. SAC tournament

The Rio Hondo College women's basketball team got off to another great start as the Roadrunners opened the season this weekend with a pair of wins and reached the finals of the Mt. SAC Tip-Off Classic for the second straight year. But this time, the host Mounties were able to hold off Rio Hondo and beat the Roadrunners 66-62 in Sunday's the championship game.

Rio Hondo held a narrow one-point advantage at halftime, leading 31-30 over Mt. SAC. But the Mounties outscored the Roadrunners 17-11 in the third, which proved to be the difference.

In the fourth, Amy Navarro's three-pointer tied up the game at 54-54 with 3:55 to go. Mt. SAC scored the next four points but Amanda Lee sank a three-pointer of her own to cut the lead to one at 58-57 with 2:10 to play. Rio Hondo would get no closer. Down by six points late, Lee nailed another three with 13 seconds remaining but it was too late for a comeback.

Lee scored a team-high 20 points in the tourney final, as she made 4 of 5 shots from three-point range. She was named to the all-tournament team after averaging 14.3 points per game.

Sally Smith scored 12 points to go along with 5 rebounds while Navarro had a team-high 10 boards and 3 blocks with 7 points. Kailey Gutierrez came off the bench to score 11 points and grab 3 rebounds.

Rio Hondo advanced after a 61-53 victory over Long Beach City College in the tournament semifinals on Saturday. The Roadrunners led 30-21 at halftime and held off a 21-point LBCC flurry in the fourth quarter for the win.

All-tournament selection Candace Black had a big game for Rio Hondo, as she scored a team-high 18 points in the victory. She added 7 rebounds, 4 steals, and a pair of blocks.

Lee (12 points) and Smith (10 points) scored in double figures while Navarro led the Roadrunners with 11 rebounds to go with 7 points, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.

The Roadrunners got the season going with an 80-43 rout of Saddleback College in the tourney's opening game. Rio Hondo began the game with a 13-1 run and never looked back. The Roadrunners led 45-24 at halftime and held Saddleback to just five points in the fourth quarter.

Freshman Donteylor Maxwell had an impressive Roadrunner debut. She led the squad with 12 points and added 7 rebounds, 3 steals, and a block.

Black (11 points, 5 steals, 4 rebounds) and Lee (11 points, 3 steals, 3 assists) also played well in the season opener while Gutierrez and Summer Montoya came off the bench to score 10 points each.

Rio Hondo, now 2-1, returns to action on Thursday (Nov. 7) when they open the three-day Riverside City College "Earn Our Stripes" tournament with a 1 p.m. game against Santa Ana College.