After finishing in third place in the tough Central Valley Conference, the Reedley College Tiger women's basketball team is headed to the California Community College Athletic Association's Northern California Regionals.
The 13th-seeded Lady Tigers (7-5, 15-12) will head to third-seeded San Joaquin Delta (23-5) on Saturday for the second round of the 18-team tournament, tipoff is scheduled for 5:30. Two first round games are set for Wednesday, Feb. 27. The four third-round winners on March 9 advance to the CCCAA Women's Basketball Championship on March 17-19 at Ventura College.
Delta finished second in their conference behind top-seeded Diablo Valley.
One of the biggest Reedley wins of the season came on Wednesday, Feb. 20 when the Lady Tigers traveled to their district rival Fresno City College and came home with a 76-73 victory. It was the first time in many years that Reedley recorded two conference victories in the season over the Rams, who finished at 6-6 in CVC action and 18-11 overall. FCC was seeded ahead of the Tigers, as they were 12th.
In a contest that was close all the way, Stephanie Cervantes (Dinuba) made four 3-pointers and led RC with 16 points. I'man Conley (Edison, Fresno) recorded a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds while Zavia Barlow (Washington Union) also had 15 points.
All eight Tigers scored on Saturday in a 76-33 rout of Porterville College. The contest was close early, as Reedley led by only a 10-7 count after one quarter. But the Lady Tigers stepped up the defense in the next 10 minutes, holding the Pirates to just three points to take a 27-10 halftime lead. Reedley exploded for 32 third-quarter points to increase the advantage to 59-20.
Conley led the winners with 23 points. Barlow followed with 11 while Jelani Williford added 10.
Head Coach Dan Kilbert started the all-sophomore starting lineup of Kristy Berry (Minarets), Cervantes, Williford (Stockton), Barlow and Conley.
Five Tigers were selected to the all-conference team I'man Conley was was chosen for first team honors. Stephanie Cervantes and Zavia Barlow were chosen for all CVC second-team honors. Jelani Williford and Chloe Welch received honorable mention.
By: Will Goldbeck
