Gaucho women’s basketball wins Orange Empire Conference
Deja Brooks scored 16 points and had 10 rebounds to help women’s basketball clinch the Orange Empire Conference, with a 54-35 win over the Fullerton Titans on Friday night.
Orange Coast College lost in an upset to Riverside the same night, the ladies are first place outright in the conference.
The women proudly celebrated their first conference title since the 2002-03 season at the Saddleback Gymnasium with loud cheers from their fans and families.
Saddleback won with 53 percent shooting in the second half after they came back from a slow start with only 18 percent shooting in the first.
The Gauchos had 18 assists, 10 steals and 43 rebounds while shooting 50 percent of their free throws to seal the win.
Brooks also had four assists making her the standout player of the game for the Gauchos.
Guard Shannon Abdulla scored eight points, had four rebounds and four assists to help fuel the win for the women.
Scoring seven points and fighting for two rebounds, guard Lillie Rellin also assisted the team to almost beat the Titans by 20 points.
Forward Tatiana Moana had 10 rebounds, four assists and another seven points that helped prove that the ladies of Fullerton were no match against the Gauchos.
During the first half, Danielle Munson had one assist when she caught a rebound off Fullerton’s board, passing then to Brooks who made a three-pointer to bring the game to 17-13 at the break.
After the break is when the women raised their shooting percentage, scoring 37 points.
Reserve LaTisha Bell also helped grab seven rebounds to put the score at 51-30 with 2:58 to play.
The Gauchos are currently waiting to hear a playoff seeding announcement on Monday in order to know where and when they play their next game.