Vasquez Drops 43 as Women’s Basketball Advances to SoCal Regional Round Two

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Or in the Tiger's case, when the going gets tough, Trinity Vasquez gets going.

Vasquez and the Riverside City College women's basketball team found themselves in an all-out brawl against the No. 17 seeded Antelope Valley College Marauders in the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Southern Regional Round One. After a sluggish start, the Tigers overcame an early 11-point deficit and rode a 43-point outburst from Vasquez leading to an 88-81 overtime victory.

Antelope Valley came out of the gates firing by jumping out to an early lead due to their effective shooting from long range. Nevertheless, Riverside continued to chip away at the lead and trimmed it down to nine points at 25-16 to cap the first quarter.

From then on, it was the Vasquez show. After going 0-for-6 from the floor in the first quarter, the sophomore sensation erupted for 20 points in the second quarter on a 9-for-12 shooting mark. She began by converting a three-point play and followed by scoring the next 12 points. Freshman forward Asia Anderson snapped the streak with a bucket of her own, which Vasquez assisted on.  Vasquez then continued on to close out the half by hitting four-consecutive shots bringing the score to 41-39 at halftime.

Sophomore guard Vanessa Vargas handed Riverside the lead just seconds into the third quarter by flushing a three pointer. From then on, the lead shifted multiple times with Antelope Valley holding a three-point edge entering into the fourth quarter.

The Tigers took the lead back for the first time since the second quarter as Vasquez drilled a three pointer with under eight minutes remaining. However, Antelope Valley's sharp shooting from distance kept them in the game which eventually lead to a tie game with just one-minute remaining.

Antelope Valley, who was up by one, worked their way to the charity stripe with 30 seconds to go and pushed their lead to two points. The advantage did not last long as a running floater by snapped the bottom of the net to tie the game at 76-all. Antelope Valley had a decent look at a game-winner on the final possession on regulation, but they were unable to fire off a shot as the game ventured into overtime.

The Marauders landed the first blow in overtime with a layup, but freshman guard Ariane Madlambayan responded by muscling up for a bucket down low. Freshman Rebecca London followed with a basket and two free throws down the stretch. But the deadly dagger was a three pointer compliments of freshman guard Regenus Gates, thus leading to an 88-81 Tiger victory.

Vasquez landed in the history books following her performance as she recorded the second-highest single game scoring mark after bucketing a career high 43 points. She nearly tied the record set by Deja Wright ('17) in 2017. She recorded a double-double with the mark by hauling in 11 rebounds as well.

Gates followed with 13 points and 14 rebounds to record a double-double, while London earned 11 points and nine boards. Madlambayan was a rebound shy off a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds, while Serna flushed six points, hauled in four rebounds and dished out four assists.

The victory punches a ticket to the second round of the CCCAA Southern Regional Playoffs as No. 16 Riverside (16-10, 7-5 OEC) will hit the road to face off against top-ranked Moorpark on Saturday, January 26 at 7 p.m. The two faced off earlier in the season and Moorpark defeated the Tigers 83-48.