Both Bakersfield College men’s and women’s basketball teams earned the sweep Wednesday night over Antelope Valley College at the Gil Bishop Sports Center. The women’s team would get its first back-to-back wins of the season as they defeated the Marauders 73-66, and the BC men (ranked 20th in the state) earned the upset bid over No. 13 AVC, 95-74.

Women’s: Julie Olvera’s 28 points on 9-of-18 shooting, six rebounds and five assists led the way for head coach Paula Dahl and the Renegades (3-12 overall, 2-4 Western State Conference – South Division).

A tightly contested first half saw Antelope Valley (8-12, 3-2 WSC-South) lead by as many as just four points, but both teams went into the half all tied at 30. BC, however, would outscore AVC in the third quarter 21-15 to give them the 51-45 lead. The Renegades pulled away in the fourth quarter, leading by as many as 12 with 3:53 left, and eventually giving them the 73-66 victory over the Marauders.

Kennedy Nielson also added 16 points, while Veronica Slade posted 10 points and nine rebounds.

Quote of the Night: “They’re finally starting to realize what they can do…we’re coming together and I’m really excited about it.” – head coach Paula Dahl

Stat of the Night: Julie Olvera came into Wednesday’s game averaging 5.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg and two apg, but had the hot hand as she had a career high 28 points, to go along with six rebounds and five assists.

Men’s: Since entering the Western State Conference – South Division in 2013-14, Antelope Valley hadn’t experienced a two-loss season in conference play, but behind the hands of BC, that streak ended Wednesday night.

With a four-way tie for first place in the Western State Conference – South Division, both BC and Antelope Valley split its last two games knowing tonight was an early glance of what the top of the conference is all about.

Defending two-time conference champions, AVC (17-3 overall, 3-2 WSC-South), was sought after as the “measuring stick” according to Bakersfield College head coach Rich Hughes, but Wednesday night’s victory for he and his team was a statement that they hold their own measures to how good they are – and can be – moving forward.

All five starters finished in double figures as Nick Velasquez led BC (15-4, 4-1 WSC-South) with 21 points on 7-for-14 field goals and eight rebounds.

BC’s stingy defense held the Marauders to just 36 percent shooting from the field (25-for-68) while also holding them to 16 percent shooting from three-point range (3-for-18).

Quote of the Night: “It [tonight’s win] shows we can play with anybody. We got a long ways to go…we got our work cut out for us.” – head coach Rich Hughes

Stat of the Night: In their five games at home so far (including preseason), BC is 5-0 and outscoring its opponents by an average of  27 points.