The only upset in the regional finals of the NorCal community college women’s basketball playoffs was of the monumental variety.
No. 8 Foothill traveled to Rocklin on Saturday and knocked off top-seeded Sierra, with the Owls deploying the No. 1 scoring defense in the state to pull off the 51-45 victory.
“We earned it,” Foothill coach Jody Craig said. “To go up into their house and take down the No. 1 seed, it was one of those nights that you’re not going to forget for a long time.”
The reward? A meeting with the top-ranked team in the state in the Elite 8.
Foothill (23-8) plays Mt. San Antonio (30-2), the No. 1 seed from the South, Friday at 1 p.m. during this weekend’s state championships at Las Positas College in Livermore.
“Talk about back-to-back No. 1s,” Craig said. “You get a chance to play No. 1 in the North, then turn around to play No. 1 in the South. One way to look at this — and this is a very optimistic approach — you’re going to have to play them sometime. And I personally would rather play them on the first day and not the last day, since we’ve only got eight players.”
The Owls spent Monday watching film and underwent a walk through, but won’t go full speed until Tuesday in order to be at full strength against Mt. San Antonio, which has won three of the past five state titles.
“That just shows you what it took out of us to finish that game on Saturday,” Craig said.
Back on Dec. 19, Foothill lost 65-45 at Sierra.
This time, the Owls returned locked in and jumped out of a 31-18 at halftime, holding Sierra to just 4 points in the second quarter.
“Everything we had planned for was playing itself out and things were going great,” Craig said. “We took them out of the things that they were expecting to look for and we forced them to make perimeter shots. And we just happened to catch them on a bad night. They shot poorly in the first half.”
It helped that Sierra (25-4) was missing 6-foot-7 center Jaimie Curtis, which still didn’t completely negate its height advantage in the post, but allowed Foothill to win the battle on the glass.
“In warmp-ups, we noticed she was hobbling a little bit and we saw her go over to the trainer,” Craig said. “That was a difference, absolutely. Her not playing probably more of a difference in the second half than the first, and the reason I say that is as you get a little more tired, then that height and that size becomes more of a factor.”
The Owls’ resiliency was tested down the stretch as Sierra hit back-to-back 3-pointers to get within a single possession with fewer than 3 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
“They’re pressing us and we had just turned it over,” Craig said. “I’m thinking to myself, ‘If we’re going to fold, we’re on the ropes right now.’ And I was really proud and actually thrilled to see us respond the way that we did.”
The frenzied crowd was silenced after Foothill kept its poise, moved the ball on offense and found freshman Tiffani Lowe in the corner for a 3-pointer to reclaim momentum.
“That gave us enough breathing room to kind of take it down the stretch,” Craig said.
Lowe and Tyiteyana Jefferson each scored 11, while Akilah Jennings, a first-team NorCal all-state selection, added 9.
“When we finished practice on Friday last week, we made a commitment that we would have a reason to be back in the gym on Monday,” Craig said. “So it’s exciting that we have that opportunity and the girls are really pumped.”
It’s the eighth trip to the Elite 8 for the Owls, but the first since 2012.
“It’s been long enough that this program, as far as the kids that are in it, it’s a completely new thing for them,” Craig said. “So they’re excited.”
The semifinals will be held Saturday, with the championship scheduled for Sunday at 3:30 p.m.
