Owls Grab Thrilling Overtime Victory

Citrus College tipped off Western State Conference action with a thrilling 60-57 victory over Bakersfield College Wednesday night.

The Owls improve to 5-10 on the year and open WSC-South with a 1-0 mark. The Renegades drop to 6-10 overall and 0-1 in conference.

Reanne Reola led the Owls with 17 points and dished out five assists, while Giselle Garcia-Nunez posted 15 points. Gabriela Valdez chipped in 11 points and seven boards, Felicity Mendoza dished out four assists and Joceline Escamilla grabbed a team-high 13 rebounds to help the Owls win the glass 52-46.

It was back-and-forth action throughout the game before the Owls shifted momentum in their favor in the fourth quarter. Tied 51-51 with just over a minute left on the clock, Reola drained a deep jumper from the corner to put Citrus up by two. Bakersfield called a timeout and scored out of the break to send the game into overtime.

The Owls scored first in overtime, but the Renegades kept on their tails until Valdez came up huge with a step-back trey to put Citrus up by two possessions. 

Bakersfield called a timeout and pulled within two, but with time running out had to foul to try to get the ball back. Valdez finished one of her two chances at the line to seal the 60-57 victory.

"It feels so good [to start conference with a win]," said Valdez. "We've been working toward it and we're only going to get better."

Citrus is back in action on Saturday, hosting Santa Monica College at 3 p.m. in the Owls' Nest.