Women's Basketball: Porterville splits final two games at West LA Tournament

Porterville College sophomore Marisol Cerda scored 20 points in a win over Imperial Valley College and followed that up with 13 points in a loss to Yuba College as the Pirates closed out the three-day West Los Angeles College tournament on Saturday.

Porterville is now 3-9 overall and returns to action on Dec. 28 when the Pirates open the Mike Gervasoni Memorial Classic tournament at 12 p.m. against host DeAnza College in Cupertino.

Porterville 64, Imperial Valley 53
The Pirates snapped a six-game losing streak thanks to the 64-53 victory against winless Imperial Valley (0-8) on Friday. Porterville jumped out to a 10-2 lead and was up 28-19 at halftime. Despite being outrebounded 38-34, PC was able to convert 22 Imperial Valley turnovers into 22 points.

Cerda's 20 points was a season-high as she nailed four 3-pointers. Denisheun Jackson had 12 points but also chipped in with seven rebounds while Sydney Tobias had a good all-around game with 10 points, six rebounds, six steals, and five assists. Lauren Beath nearly had a double-double, but came up just short with nine points and nine rebounds.

Yuba 76, Porterville 64
Porterville led 30-25 at halftime, but Yuba put together an 18-0 run in the third to jump ahead for good at 49-36 as the Pirates closed the tourney with a loss on Saturday.

After scoring a season-low 12 points on Friday, Jackson got back on track in a big way with a game-high 27 points. It was her second-highest point total of the season, short of her 31 point outburst on Nov. 18 against Imperial Valley. Her 11 rebounds also secured her ninth double-double of the season.

Cerda added 13 points and five rebounds while Kayla Nunez chipped in with 12 points and eight boards.