Hamamoto era off and running

The Saddleback women's basketball team opened the season with a 60-55 victory over Cerritos College on Wednesday inside the gymnasium.  The Bobcats rallied in the fourth quarter behind Makayla Rutledge to get head coach Jordan Hamamoto his first win at the school.

Saddleback opened hot, making four of its first six three-pointers in grabbing a lead.  The Bobcats would cool down as the half went on, settling for a 31-27 lead at the intermission. 

Saddleback came out of the locker room cold, scoring just four points in the third quarter in letting Cerritos take a six-point lead into the final quarter.  The Bobcats then caught fire in the final quarter, with Rutledge putting together one of the great quarters in program history. 

Saddleback trailed 48-40 when Makayla Rutledge took over the game.  Rutledge nailed a three-pointer to start the rally at the 6:08 mark to cut the lead to five.  She was fouled a minute later and made both free throws to cut the deficit to 48-45 with just under five minutes remaining.  Later, Rutledge brought the Bobcats within one when she hit a shot and was fouled in the process, making the free throw to cut the deficit to one (51-50).  She followed that up with a layup to give the Bobcats a 52-51 lead with 3:08 remaining.

Rutledge wasn't finished, getting fouled with 1:12 remaining and making both free throws to extend the Saddleback lead to 54-51.  She put the game out of reach with 41 seconds remaining when fouled and making both free throws for a six-point advantage. 

In total, Rutledge scored 18 of her game-high 26 points in the final quarter.  She was perfect in the quarter, making 3-of-3 shots from the field and 11-of-11 free throws.  Rutledge finished 13-for-13 from the free throw line, breaking a record of 12 consecutive makes from the free throw line set by Ciara Iglehart back in 2002-03.

Saddleback finished 8-of-22 from three-point range and 22-of-31 from the charity stripe in the win.  The Bobcats were also solid inside, outrebounding the Falcons 45-34 for the game.  Rutledge and Kalena Akinaka both finished with a team-high 10 rebounds apiece.

Saddleback starts the season at 1-0, opening the Hamamoto era with a win.  The Bobcats will try to make it two in a row to start the season when they travel to Grossmont College on Friday night.  The Bobcats and Griffins are scheduled to start at 6:00 PM in El Cajon.