Sophomores Lauren Beath and Denisheun Jackson both posted double-doubles but with no bench available Porterville College couldn't keep up with the Merced College Blue Devils and lost by a final score of 77-57 on Wednesday night.

The Central Valley Conference loss dropped the Pirates to 4-16 overall and 1-5 in conference play.

Porterville fell behind 18-9 after the first quarter and couldn't recover from the nine-point deficit. Merced outrebounded Porterville by a 71-38 margin which led to numerous second and third chance opportunities on offense.

Beath earned her third double-double of the season as she scored a team-high 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Her 22 points was just one shy of her season-high set last week against Taft.

Jackson continued her season-long scoring streak with 18 points. She has scored in double figures in all 20 of Porterville's game this season. Jackson also recorded her 14th double-double of the season as she had a team-best 13 rebounds.

Rosario Herrera also had a good game with seven points, five rebounds, four steals, and three assists.

Porterville returns to action on Saturday (Jan. 28) when the Pirates host West Hills-Lemoore College in a 7 p.m. CVC game.