The San Diego City College women's basketball team got off to a rough start this season with three straight losses at the West L.A. tournament last week and a loss in their home opener on Friday against L.A. Harbor, but they finally got their first win on Saturday over Porterville
The Knights responded to the 61-49 home opening loss to L.A Harbor by edging Porterville, 44-40. Sophomore point guard E'maniee Powell led the Knights with 16 points, while freshman guard Breeana Gafare added 10 points and six rebounds.
City had a 21-10 lead after the first quarter and it ballooned to 33-13 with 3:04 remaining in the first half, but Porterville fought back with an 18-2 run to cut the Knights' lead to just four points at the end of the third quarter.
Powell injured her ankle in the third and the Knights offense suffered, but she came back in the fourth quarter to help the Knights recover. They played solid defense and hit timely shots down the stretch to keep Porterville from closing the gap.
City shot only 30.4 percent from the floor, but held Porterville to 18.1 percent as they held on to get their first victory of the new season.
The win put them into the consolation championship of their own Colbert Classic tournament on Sunday morning against Southwestern. The Knights had an 11-point lead in the second quarter and a 7-point lead midway through the third, but Southwestern came back to take a 7-point lead of their own with 7:13 remaining in the game.
City rallied to regain the lead at 61-60 after a free throw by Mariah Wonders with 1:41 left, but Southwestern outscored the Knights 6-2 in the final minute to win, 66-63.
Gafare scored 16 points and brought down five rebounds. Freshman forward Elliot Nixon recorded a double double with 14 points and 15 rebounds, while Wonders provided 11 points and six rebounds off the bench in the loss.
After the Thanksgiving break, the Knights will return to action at the Cuesta College tournament in San Luis Obispo, Calif. on November 30.
