The Folsom Lake College Falcons women’s basketball team continues to succeed this season, winning 10 out of their last 11 games, beating American River College 82-53. Despite the lopsided end result, the Falcons had to earn their victory from the second half on.
FLC started the game in typical fashion, stretching their lead to double digits early. But ARC answered back, ending the first quarter 25-19 in FLC’s favor. The second quarter looked very similar, with the Beavers outscoring the Falcons 17-14. Defense looked pretty lackluster from the norm for the Falcons in the first half. With the help of Alysa Lopez‘s 16 first half points, including a buzzer-beater to end the half, the Falcons took a 39-36 lead heading into halftime.
Whatever head coach Ali Mollet said at half worked, because the Falcons came out with a different mentality defensively and halted the Beavers’ offense in the third quarter, holding them to only nine points, while scoring 14 on them in the process. Albeit a close game throughout the third, the Falcons took a 48-45 lead with less than a minute left, ending the third quarter with a 53-45 lead.
The third quarter close calls were all it took for the Falcons to erupt. Starting at :48 seconds left in the third quarter, FLC kicked it into high-gear, going on an incredible 25-0 run into the fourth. In a blink of the eye the Falcons were up 73-45 and there was no turning back. The efficiency was unreal as FLC shot 13-15 from the field (3-4 from 3pt land) in the fourth quarter, ARC never stood a chance, ending in a 29-point victory for the Falcons
Freshman Alysa Lopez had a career-high 28 points on 13-17 shooting, including 6 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals; making it her second 20+ point game this week. Eva Graf had one of her most productive games of the season contributing 13 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. Corrie Harrisoncontinued her string of double-digit scoring efforts with 10 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 steals. Daily Applegarth came back strong after dealing with injury, hitting 4 three-pointers, resulting in 12 points. Lastly, Macie Purbaughcontributed 6 assists to keep her in 2nd place in the Big 8 Conference amongst all players.
The Falcons 21-5 (11-3) head into their last two games of regular season play next week versus Sacramento City College 1-22 (0-14) at home on Tuesday, 2/14 at 5:30pm and on the road against rival Sierra College 15-11 (9-5) on Thursday, 2/16 at 5:30pm.
*Game report information provided by Folsom Lake College Athletics Department.
Photo: Falcon Athletics
