Women’s Basketball: Rio Hondo earns third place at RCC tournament

The Rio Hondo College women's basketball team won two out of three games, including a 66-59 victory over Bakersfield College on Saturday in the third-place game of the Riverside City College "Earning Our Stripes" Tournament.

The Roadrunners opened the weekend with a 62-48 win over Santa Ana College on Thursday before suffering a 92-70 loss to Moopark College in the semifinals on Friday.

Freshman Jennyfer Morales had a big weekend for the Roadrunners and was named to the all-tournament team. Over the three games, she averaged 15.7 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 steals.

Morales came off the bench and fueled a late-game comeback, scoring 10 points over the final three minutes against Bakersfield in the third-place game. Trailing 54-50 with under 2:32 to play, Morales nailed a three-pointer to get the Roadrunners within one point. Moments later, she calmly sank three straight free throws to put the Roadrunners ahead for good. She added another three-point basket and a free throw down the stretch to help ice the victory.

Morales scored a team-high 19 points while Amy Navarro played huge underneath with a game-high 17 rebounds. Sally Smith scored 14 points while Amanda Lee added 10 points and 6 assists.

The Roadrunners had a tougher time with pre-season No. 1 ranked Moorpark, falling by 22 points to the Raiders. Rio Hondo erased an early 8-2 Moorpark lead and jumped ahead to take a 16-14 advantage after the first quarter. But Moorpark outscored the Roadrunners 27-11 in the second to put the game out of reach.

Lee scored a team-high 16 points while Donteylor Maxwell totaled 13 points and 6 rebounds. Morales came off the bench to contribute 12 points and 5 rebounds. Candace Black and Alisia Trejo both added 8 points.

In Thursday's tournament opener, the Roadrunners surged out to an early 14-2 lead and never looked back on their way to the 62-48 win over Santa Ana.

Morales once again came off the bench to score a team-high 16 points to go along with 7 steals. Black had a big game with 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals while Lee totaled 11 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals.

Rio Hondo, now 4-2 overall, returns to action on Thursday (Nov. 14) at 5 p.m. when the Roadrunners host MiraCosta College in their home opener.