(Tucson, AZ) The Pima Community College women’s basketball team (17-4, 9-2 in ACCAC) faced a tough test on Wednesday as it battled with rival Mesa Community College (17-6, 11-0) at the West Campus Aztec Gymnasium.
The No. 8 ranked Aztecs made a late run but fell short to the No. 5 ranked Thunderbirds 63-59 ending their eight-game winning streak. Pima’s two loses in ACCAC conference play have come at the hands of Mesa. They fell 74-57 on Dec. 11 at Mesa.
The Aztecs trailed 61-51 with three minutes left but got baskets from sophomore Mattanaya Vital (Amphitheater HS) and freshman Kiley Sours-Miller. Vital converted on a pair of free throws to cut it to 61-57 with 1:09 left. Mesa missed a shot attempt and Sours-Miller collected the defensive rebound. Sophomore Kennedi Niemann was fouled and she hit her two foul shots as the Thunderbirds called timeout with Pima down 61-59 with 34.3 seconds left. Pima was on an 8-0 run.
The Thunderbirds drew a foul and Britany Kogbara made 1 for 2. The Aztecs called timeout with 5.8 seconds left with the score at 62-59. They got the ball to Vital but her three-point attempt was off the mark with 1.3 seconds left. The Thunderbirds made a final free throw to seal the game.
The Thunderbirds used a 10-0 run in the first quarter to take the lead and never relinquished it. Pima trailed 14-10 after the first quarter and 32-24 at halftime.
Trailing 39-30 in the third quarter, the Aztecs got a boost from Vital, who hit a pair of three-pointers and cut the deficit to 40-38 but Mesa scored five straight points to keep the advantage.
The Aztecs were down 49-42 entering the fourth quarter. Mesa scored the first basket, but sophomore Rori Hoffmeyer (Cibola HS) converted on a three-point play and Sours-Miller scored inside to cut it again to a four-point deficit at 51-47. Mesa countered with an 8-0 run to take their biggest lead of the game at 59-47 with 4:33 left. Mesa grabbed eight offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter.
Sours-Miller finished with a game-high 19 points as she went 9 for 13 from the field. She also had eight rebounds and four blocks.
Vital scored a Pima career-high 18 points as she went 5 for 10 from the field and 4 for 7 from three-point range. She was also 4 for 4 from the free throw line.
Niemann closed out the game with nine points, five rebounds and four assists while Hoffmeyer contributed with seven points and nine rebounds.
The Aztecs will get a break from game play as they return to the court on Saturday, Feb. 5 when they head to Scottsdale Community College for an ACCAC conference contest. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.
Press Release courtesy of Pima Aztec Athletics – Raymond Suarez
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