Skyline College women’s basketball team defeated American River College in Sacramento on Feb. 24 in their first playoff game of the season.
The final score ended 78-59. So far, the team’s victory has taken them further than their prior season.

The game had a very slow start, but the women gained more momentum towards the end of the second quarter. For Skyline, Alyssa Dela Cruz (#20) hit several three pointers, and players Charme Noordzee (#33) and Juliet Courtney (#41) were scoring multiple two point shots within the last fifteen minutes of the game.

In the final seconds of the first half, Dela Cruz scored a layup that put Skyline ahead by five points, ending the first two quarters with a score of 29-24.

The team really started to get their head in the game in the second half. A lot of turnovers, and very strong defense for Skyline. Despite all the points they scored, the team still struggled offensively. Neither team practiced good time management: there was too much passing and dribbling, and not enough driving to the basket or attempting to take shots and score.

The women really started to pick up the pace in the second half though. Noordzee ran the ball down the court to Arianna Sheehy (#2) with the assist to Courtney who scored the three point shot from mid court. This was a show of team ball at its best. They showed superior ball handling skills and teamwork.

“I was a little nervous coming here because we are a young team but I’m really proud of how our team played,” Stephanie Allen (#3) said. “I think that everybody executed the defense that we were supposed to do.”

Although the opposing team played better offensively, defense-wise Skyline dominated. Allen played a great game, with tons of steals and rebounds throughout. In the last minute of the game Allen forced a turnover, took the ball the length of the court and scored on a beautiful layup. With their final lead of 19 points, the team won their first playoffs game.

Allen seems to recognize the potential in her team, in that they knew they would feel even more nervous if they had to play Fresno again after their defeat last time, but Allen definitely feels confident and more prepared. She feels as if the team has gotten a lot of games under their belt and are ready to face Fresno once again.

“Our defense did really good tonight and I think that’s what won us our game,” said Sheehy.

Although she agrees with the rest of the team on their strong defense, she knows there is still room for improvement: moving the ball around more, and better motion offense.

Overall the team played a great game. Head coach Chris Watters feels as if all players have done a good job of buying into what they have been teaching, as far as concepts and preparations.

“As the season has gone on we’ve seen our freshmen really start to step up which gives us a nice glimpse of what we’re going to be next year,” Watters said.