Cats rally for regional finals berth

The Saddleback women's basketball team advanced to the 3C2A Southern California Regional Finals with a 47-43 win at Glendale College on Saturday night in Glendale.  The Bobcats scored the final seven points of the game to advance to the regional finals for the first time in 23 years.

Saddleback battled a tough Glendale team, the turnover bug and some cold shooting, but managed to get enough stops on defense to grit out the win.  The Bobcats held the Vaqueros scoreless for the last 5:21 of the game, scoring the final seven points to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. 

Saddleback fell behind early when Glendale came out firing on all cylinders in grabbing a 15-6 lead.  The Bobcats got a spark at the end of the first quarter when they inbounded the ball and Mariana Mina buried a shot from way beyond the arc to cut the deficit to 15-9 at the end of the opening quarter.

Saddleback's defense started to rear its head in the second quarter, holding Glendale scoreless for the first 7:15 of the quarter.  The Bobcats finally took their first lead of the game when Mina made a pair of free throws for a 17-15 advantage with 5:20 left in the half.

The shooting woes continued for both squads throughout the rest of the half, as Saddleback held a 19-18 lead at the break.  Saddleback was just 1-of-12 from long range over the first 20 minutes while Glendale was 1-for-11.

Saddleback took a different path in the second half, being a bit more selective from the outside and opting to bang the ball inside.  Unfortunately, the free throws weren't dropping either as the Bobcats made just 2-of-7 shots from the charity stripe in the third quarter in falling behind 33-30 heading into the fourth quarter.

Glendale extended the lead to eight points in the opening minute of the fourth quarter when Sammy Velasquez broke through and made a shot from beyond the arc to give the Vaqueros a 38-30 lead with 9:13 on the clock.  The Bobcats kept on going inside, feeding Kassidy Beach for a lay-up and three point play to start the comeback.

Glendale led 42-35 with 7:11 left in the game when Saddleback made its move.  Kalynne Mendez drove to the basket and scored to start the rally.  Just 50 seconds later, Mendez did the same and the Bobcats were back within five points. 

Saddleback then got a huge boost when Makayla Rutledge buried a three-pointer from the corner to get the Bobcats back within two points with 6:24 on the clock.  It was one of two makes from long range in the second half for Rutledge, who tied Mendez for the team lead with 11 points for the night.

Kalena Akinaka then got involved when she banked home a shot with 3:05 remaining to get Saddleback back within one point at 43-42.  Saddleback finally took the lead for the first time since early in the second half when Nina Saiki was fouled on a three-point attempt with 1:15 remaining.  She would make 2-of-3 and the Bobcats had a 44-43 lead.

Glendale continued its cold shooting despite holding a 49-44 advantage in total rebounds.  The Vaqueros missed three straight shots down the stretch, forcing them to foul when Saddleback had the ball.  Beach made a pair of free throws and then Saiki made 1-of-2 as Saddleback had a four-point lead with six seconds remaining.  Glendale took the ball down the court but could not get off a shot in watching the clock expire on their season.

Saddleback's defense held Glendale to 22.7% shooting for the night.  The Vaqueros missed their final 11 shots from the field, scoring just one point in the final 7:11 of the game. 

Despite a cold-shooting night from the field, Beach still left a mark on Glendale.  The 3^rd Team All-State selection score nine points while collecting 16 rebounds with three blocked shots. 

Saddleback is now 22-8 overall for the season following the win.  It is the most wins for the program since winning 24 games during the 2007-08 season.  In addition, it is the first time the program has won two playoff games since going to the state finals in 1996. 

Next up for Saddleback is a date with the top-ranked team in the region, Mt. San Antonio College, on Saturday.  The winner on Saturday will move on the state tournament in Visalia the following week.   Mt. San Antonio advanced to the regional finals with a 69-56 win over Santa Ana College on Saturday night.

Saddleback and Mt. San Antonio are scheduled to tip off at 7:00 PM in Walnut on Saturday night.