Porterville comes up short at Cuesta Tournament

The Porterville College women's basketball team resumed play following the Thanksgiving break with a pair of games at the Cuesta College Tournament in San Luis Obispo. On Thursday, Cuesta proved to be rude hosts in a 62-44 Pirates' loss. And on Saturday, Porterville couldn't hold a fourth-quarter lead and suffered a 66-62 defeat by Las Positas College.

Sophomore Sierra Perez scored a combined 22 points over the two contests to lead the Pirates. The losses dropped PC to 0-8 overall. Porterville will look to snap its winless streak when it competes at the three-day Mira Costa College Tournament that starts on Dec. 17 in San Diego.

Cuesta 66, Porterville 44
A disastrous third-quarter for the Pirates turned a close game into a blowout for the host Cougars. Porterville trailed 27-25 at halftime before Cuesta outscored PC 20-6 in the third take a commanding 47-31 lead into the final period.

Turnovers also plagued the Pirates as they committed 30 in the game.

Taylor Leal came off the bench to score a team-best 11 points for the Pirates. Perez totaled 10 points while Juliet Garcia had a good game with 6 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Raeleen Jensen nearly had a double-double with 7 points and 9 rebounds.

Las Positas 66, Porterville 62
The Pirates appeared to be on their way to their first win of the season after taking a 57-43 lead into the fourth quarter of Friday's game against Las Positas. But Las Positas rallied to outscore PC 23-15 over the final period to send Porterville home with the tough loss.

PC knocked its turnover total down to 21 in the contest and outrebounded Los Positas by a 48-44 margin.

Perez led Porterville with 12 points and added 8 rebounds. She was the lone Pirate to score in double figures. Garcia came up just short in a double-double effort with 9 points and 9 rebounds. And Jensen posted another quality game with 7 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 steals.