SF Facion Edwards' basket with 28 seconds left broke a 79-79 tie and ended up being the difference as host Canyons (10-9, 2-0) took over first place in the WSC-South with a 2-point win over defending division champion Citrus (11-11, 2-1) Wednesday night.
Edwards basket came after Citrus had rallied from a 79-70 deficit in the last 3 minutes to tie the game. Canyons had led by as many as 13 points earlier in the second half.
PF Samantha Gossard led the Cougars with 20 pts while SF Janette Galindo had 19 plus 9 rebounds before fouling out with 2:15 left. Ctr Melissa Tachiasa had 17 pts and 11 rebs.
For Citrus, last year's WSC-South Player of the Year PF Alexis Pope had a huge game with 37 pts and 14 rebs. Her block, rebound and fast-break basket with 39 seconds left tied the game at 79 for Citrus.
Ctr Nicole Cunningham had 12 pts and 7 boards for the Owls. And PG Semone Funn had 6 pts and a game-high 12 asts, but the game ended on a sour note for her when she missed a lay-up in the final seconds that would have tied the game at 81.
box score
Wednesday, January 11, 2006 - 5:30 pm
at the Cougar Cage, College of the Canyons, Valencia
WSC-South (women)
Citrus Owls 79:
5-Semone Funn, PG - 2/4 fg, 2/4 ft, 5 reb, 12 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 6 pts
34-Jen Esparza, SG - 0/3 fg, 0 pts
44-Ceione Hill, SF - 3/7 fg, 4 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 4 pf, 6 pts
30-Alexis Pope, PF - 15/22 fg, 7/8 ft, 14 reb, 1 ast, 3 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 37 pts
22-Nicole Cunningham, C - 4/6 fg, 4/7 ft, 7 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl, 4 pf, 12 pts
32-JaTonn Parham, F - 2/3 fg, 0/2 ft, 1 reb, 1 blk, 2 pf, 4 pts
1-Darieshia Morris, G - 1/1 fg, 1 reb, 3 ast, 2 pf, 2 pts
10-Jenny Sirk, G - 3/6 fg, 1 ast, 1 stl, 9 pts
3-Brittani Smith, F - 0/1 fg, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 0 pts
23-Jasmine Redmond, G - 1/3 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 reb, 3 pf, 3 pts
24-Jaimia Porter, F - 0/1 fg, 1 pf, 0 pts
55-Brenda Orduno, C - 0 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 31/57 fg (.544), 14/23 ft (.609), 37 reb, 23 ast, 6 blk, 9 stl, 19 pf, 79 pts
3-pt fg (3): Sirk 3
Turnovers (26): Funn 6, Parham 6, Pope 5, Hill 2, Cunningham 2, Morris 2, Esparza, Smith, Redmond
Canyons Cougars 81:
12-Janete Galindo, SF - 5/10 fg, 8/9 ft, 9 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 5 pf, 19 pts
44-Samantha Gossard, PF - 8/15 fg, 2/3 ft, 4 reb, 3 ast, 2 pf, 20 pts
35-Melissa Tachias, C - 6/14 fg, 5/6 ft, 11 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk, 3 stl, 4 pf, 17 pts
14-Hina Kimitete, SG - 3/5 fg, 4 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 7 pts
13-Leslie Ortiz, PG - 3/10 fg, 2 reb, 10 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 7 pts
4-Brittany Benavidez, G - 1/1 fg, 1 stl, 2 pts
22-Facion Edwards, F - 3/11 fg, 2/3 ft, 3 reb, 1 stl, 1 pf, 8 pts
24-Enchantee Merriman, F - 0/3 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 reb, 2 stl, 2 pf, 1 pt
15-Martesha Deason, F - 1 reb, 0 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 29/69 fg (.420), 18/23 ft (.783), 35 reb, 21 ast, 3 blk, 10 stl, 18 pf, 81 pts
3-pt fg (5): Gossard 2, Galindo, Kimitete, Ortiz
Fouled Out: Galindo 2:15 left
Turnovers (20): Ortiz 6, Tachias 4, Galindo 3, Gossard 3, Edwards 3, Kimitete
Halftime Score: Canyons 38, Citrus 31
Updated Records: Canyons 10-9, 2-0 in WSC-S; Citrus 11-11, 2-1 in WSC-S
Edwards scored with 28 secs left to break the 79-79 tie
