Lady Rams turn ball over 32 times in 67-48 home loss
GILROY – The Gavilan women’s basketball team has just six players on the team, but that hasn’t stopped it from competing with some of the best teams in the area this year.
Gavilan was defeated 67-48 by visiting San Francisco City, who also has the Rams as its mascot, Wednesday night in a Coast Conference matchup.
“We usually run our offense better and get better shots,” said first-year Gavilan coach Mike Girardi. “But we were a little impatient tonight.”
Although the Gavilan Rams (9-8, 1-4 Conf.) have lost their last four games, they have played some of the tougher teams in the area during that span.
“We could have beat San Francisco,” said sophomore guard Sabrina Murphy, who led the Rams with 16 points. “It came down to the little things like rebounding.”
Gavilan held a brief lead at the start of the game, but the pressure of San Francisco forced 32 turnovers – 18 in the first half.
“To play catch-up and take the lead against a tough team is not easy to do,” Girardi said. “Next time we play them, we have to take care of the ball better. That is the first time all year that we let the press bother us. But our girls gave it their all.”
San Francisco (18-4, 4-1) had nearly three times as many players as the Rams and had the luxury of being able to constantly have fresh players to wear Gavilan out. Nine different players scored for San Francisco.
But even with the limited personnel, Gavilan, who was down 32-19 at the half, got within 37-29 with 15:32 remaining to force San Francisco to call a time out. Nicole Donley found Jen Tremblay, who had 14 points, inside to cap the rally.
“We were trying a couple different defenses, and some of them were not working as well,” said San Francisco coach Jaime Wong. “They (the Gavilan Rams) are a hard-working team.”
“Our girls were looking to attack more and weren’t hesitating,” Girardi said. “That is something we are looking for them to do more.”
The game started to get away from Gavilan after that. But they kept up the intensity. With five minutes to go, the players were still hustling down the court and diving for loose balls.
Both Cynthia Pinto, who had seven points, and Murphy took hard fouls while driving to the basket late in the game. Pinto fouled out with about five minutes left. Donley scored nine points, including a 7-for-8 performance from the free-throw line.
Carolyn Beatty and Lacey Byers, who had a pair of free throws, showed their usual strong hustle down the court each time.
The Rams will begin the second half of their conference schedule at Mission College on Friday.
