Yuba's home opener spoiled by Siskiyous
An 83-47 loss in their home opener to Siskiyous wasn't what coach Steve Sain and his Yuba College women's basketball team had in mind on Tuesday.
While the young, finesse-style group hung with the Eagles for the first six minutes of the game, it wasn't long before Siskiyous (2-0) broke it open.
"They're talented. They have some very good players," Yuba College coach Steve Sain said of Siskiyous. "They started wearing us down, we stopped moving our feet on defense and that led to quick baskets for them."
It all began with an Amber Franko rebound, an outlet pass to Cassidy Hammon, who while pushing the ball up the floor, dropped it off in front of a speedy Natalie Smith for a bucket in stride.
The 11-9 lead went from narrow to large in a hurry.
Seven minutes later, Siskiyous put up 17 more points. Yuba mustered five.
"As a young team, we don't know yet what it takes to win," Sain said. "And that is, we have to play hard for a full ball game."
Smith finished with 11 points, 10 rebounds and four steals, while Eagles' Dijana Topalovic led all scorers with 21 points. She also dished out five assists, while Franko led all players with 11 rebounds.
Yuba (1-3) was simply off its game.
The 49ers didn't get to the free-throw line until 14:10 of the second half. Poor passing led to 30 turnovers and Yuba couldn't buy a bucket if they tried. Yuba shot 7-for-38 from beyond the arc, and potential shots inside the paint still wound up in Eagles' hands.
What the 49ers lacked in the first half however, they made up for with high-intense defense in the second half.
After recording just one steal in the first half, the 49ers ripped off nine in the second. Alex Rainey led the way with four.
And while it led to more scoring opportunities, the 43-21 deficit at the break was too large of a margin to climb out of.
"It's going to be a trial and error process early on this season," Sain said. "Hopefully we can start establishing some consistency and some identity."
Nichole Manley-Case led Yuba with nine points, while Danielle Bettencourt and Hasti Makarizadeh each chipped in six.
Tara Silva led the team with seven rebounds and six assists.
