Santa Rosa Junior College women rout Napa Valley in basketball playoff opener

The Santa Rosa Junior College Bear Cubs, the No. 2 seed in the California Community College Athletic Association’s NorCal playoffs, made quite the statement in Saturday’s opener by routing No. 18 Napa Valley 81-39.

“We haven’t played in almost two weeks,” SRJC head coach Lacey Campbell said. “I think they were just amped up. It’s the first playoff game for a lot of them, so I think it was just a little too much excitement off the start. They settled down and we got the looks we wanted. We got Lucca (Lowenberg) shots when we wanted to get her shots, so that was a big comfort for everybody.”

The host Bear Cubs, who were the outright Big 8 Conference champions, raced out to a 21-8 lead after the first quarter. Analy alum Lowenberg hit three triples, and Chico State signee Ashleigh Barr had seven points in the frame.

“We came out strong, and that was one thing we were worried about with not playing for so long,” sophomore guard and Montgomery alum Ciarah Michalik said. “I think we achieved that goal and maintained coming out strong.”

Moving into the second quarter, it was the SRJC defense that did the most damage. Napa was held to just one point in the second quarter, a made free throw by Mirah Jackson with 30 seconds left.

On the offensive side, Santa Rosa saw more players get onto the scoresheet. Sheriene Arikat made three buckets, Taylor Iacopi hit a three-pointer and Rose Nevin made a basket. Add in seven more points from Lowenberg — as well as a bucket each from Barr and Michalik — and it resulted in a 22-point quarter. The score was 43-9 at halftime.

“We talk a lot about defensive emphasis on individuals, and what we want to accomplish defensively,” Campbell said. “We feel like that’s where we can win games. That was a big focal point at halftime — don’t let up. We knew they were going to come out and play hard, because this would be the end of their season. We always feel like we can play better.”

Napa did start to get something going in the third quarter, as Brooklyn Giles scored six points. Daralonie Sykes also had a couple of scores, and the visitors had 25 points at the end of three.

But the Bear Cubs kept their foot on the gas. Lanie Lincoln hit three triples in the third, while Barr, Arikat, Nevin and Alex Ditizio also scored. Another 20-plus-point frame was in the cards, and the hosts led 64-25.

Lincoln continued to have a hot hand, opening the fourth with another three-pointer. Arikat made two buckets, while Michalik, Lowenberg, Nevin and Meredith Gilbertson also scored. Napa did get a three-pointer from Giles, but it too little, too late.

Lowenberg led all scorers with 20 points. Lincoln had 16, and Arikat added 14. Barr had 11 points and nine rebounds.

The Bear Cubs move on to face No. 7 Laney in the third round at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 4, in Santa Rosa. The Eagles were a 77-48 winner over No. 10 San Jose. The winner heads to the quarterfinals.

“It’s going to be a dogfight,” Campbell said.

You can reach Staff Writer Kienan O’Doherty at 415-887-8650 or kienan.odoherty@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @kodoherty22.