The Bakersfield College women’s basketball team finished third in the Western State Conference at 7-5 and 14-13 overall, just missing out on the playoffs. After a 6-2 start in their first eight conference games, the Renegades dropped three of its final four, which cost them a chance at repeating as WSC championship and clinching a post-season playoff berth.
BC was tied with College of the Canyons and was one game behind 2013 WSC champions L.A. Valley College, with two weeks remaining in the season before losing three in a row, including losses to L.A. Valley and Canyons.
On Feb. 23, both Bakersfield College and West L.A. College came into their final regular season game on three game losing streaks. BC didn’t disappoint. The sophomores for the Renegades played their final home game at BC and avenged an earlier season defeat by the Wildcats, beating them 73-54.
Four of the six sophomores for the Renegades scored in double figures, led by guard Emilee Parks with 15 points and six assists on 6-for-17 shooting, including 3-for-6 at the three point line.
The sophomores scored 61 of BC’s 73 points. Forward Brittney Smith was second in scoring with 15 points and seven rebounds, on 6-for-12 shooting.
Bakersfield College head coach Paula Dahl said her team did a great job of taking advantage of West L.A. guards Cheyenne Bonam (who finished with a game high 18 points) and Ashlie Bruner (who led the Wildcats second in scoring with 16 points) being benched to start the game, because the two players showed up late to the game.
BC also got a big lift from guards Andrea Harris and Haley Huntington. Harris scored 11 points to go along with six rebounds including going 5-for-5 at the free-throw line. Huntington scored 12 points for BC and grabbed five rebounds to go along with three steals and two assists.
“I was really proud of what they did tonight, they came out and played with more confidence than we’ve seen in a long time. We started making shots and it was amazing,” Dahl said, on her sophomore’s performance in their final game at BC. “I wanted them to have the kind of game that they had tonight and they did it,” she added.
(14-13) BC led (15-12) West L.A. 30-26 at halftime after being up by 11 points mid-way through the first half.
The Wildcats closed the half on a 17-10 run, trailing by only four points. West L.A. never led in the game.
BC would then open the second half on a 7-1 run and led 37-27 before completely running away with the game and finishing 8-4 at home.
BC’s bench finished with 21 points, led by sophomore forward MacKenzie Odle who scored nine points on 4-for-6 shooting, with three steals and seven rebounds, three shy of a double-double. Other sophomore, Christina Soto, finished her last BC home game with two steals and two assists, providing great energy for her team throughout the game.
After the game, Dahl talked about how she felt about the season. “I’m really happy, I was hoping for a winning season and we got a winning season,” she said.