Cats cruise in opener

The Saddleback women's basketball team defeated El Camino College, 62-44, to start the 2025-26 campaign on Thursday night inside the gymnasium.  Kassidy Beach and Makayla Rutledge led the charge on offense.

Saddleback fired out of the gate quickly, scoring five points in the first 29 seconds to take the lead.  The Warriors never really responded until the game was well in hand in the second half.

Saddleback had a 21-13 lead after the opening quarter as the defense pressured El Camino into a number of ball-handling mistakes.  The Bobcats forced nine turnovers in the quarter while Beach score 10 points for an early advantage.

Saddleback kept its foot on the gas pedal in the second quarter, opening up a 40-18 lead at the intermission.  The quarter belonged to Rutledge, who scored 10 points with four rebounds in the quarter.

Saddleback extended the lead to 28 points with 5:30 left in the third quarter after Mariana Mina buried a three-pointer for a 50-22 advantage.  The Bobcats then cooled off for the remainder of the game but had built such a big lead that it didn't matter.

Beach finished with 22 points, making 11-of-25 shots from the field while recording a team-high five steals.  Rutledge made 4-of-10 three-pointers in finishing with 17 points for the night. 

Saddleback's defense was stellar throughout, holding the Warriors to 11% shooting from long range while forcing 32 turnovers.

Saddleback will try for a second straight win to start the season when they host Chaffey College next Thursday.  The Bobcats and Panthers are scheduled to start at 5:00 PM inside the gymnasium.