Slow starts hurt Pirates in losses at Merced Tournament

The Porterville College women's basketball team got off to a pair of rough starts and couldn't overcome big deficits in its two losses over the weekend at the Merced College Tournament. A 53-45 loss to Cypress College on Thursday and a 76-35 defeat by Santa Rosa Junior College dropped Porterville to 0-4 this season.

Freshman Mariah Hernandez totaled 27 points and 15 rebounds over the two contests to lead the Pirates at the tourney.

Cypress 53, Porterville 45
Hernandez posted a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds but the Pirates put themselves in a 31-18 hole at halftime. PC outscored Cypress 27-22 over the final two quarters but couldn't fully complete the comeback.

Free throws proved to be costly as PC made just 5 of 15 from the line while Cypress converted 14 of its 19 attempts.

Sophomore Kathy Rodriguez put up a solid game with 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks while Raeleen Jensen contributed 11 rebounds to go with 6 points. Sierra Perez also played well with 8 rebounds, 4 points, 3 assists, and 2 steals.

Santa Rosa 76, Porterville 35
Porterville closed out the tournament on Friday with a disappointing loss to Santa Rosa. The Pirates couldn't get much going offensively and fell behind 20-2 after the first quarter and was down 37-12 at halftime.

Porterville made just 13 of 50 shots for the game and was outrebounded by a 42-19 margin.

Taylor Leal came off the bench to score a team-leading 10 points for the Pirates. Hernandez added 7 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 blocks.

Porterville will look to get in the win column when the Pirates open the San Diego City College Tournament against the host Knights on Friday (Nov. 16) at 6 p.m.