Pirates nearly erase huge hafltime deficit, fall to San Diego City 44-40

Still in search of their first win of the season, the Porterville College Women's Basketball team nearly pulled off an impressive comeback during its final game of the San Diego City College Knights' Colbert Classic on Saturday.

Trailing 21-10 after one quarter and 33-18 at halftime, the Pirates turned up the defense in the third quarter and outscored the host SDCC Knights 13-2 to get within four points at 35-31 heading into the final period.

But PC couldn't complete the comeback in the fourth quarter. Both teams managed to score just nine points each and Porterville never got closer than the original four-point deficit. The Pirates missed their last eight field goals and scored on just a pair of free throws from Sierra Perez over the final five minutes of the contest.

Despite just shooting 18 percent from the field (13-72), Porterville outrebounded San Diego City by a 55-49 margin.

Maria Lopez and Kathy Rodriguez nearly had double-double for the Pirates. Lopez led all with 13 rebounds and scored nine points while Rodriguez grabbed 10 boards to go with nine points as well.

Perez played well off the bench for PC, adding eight points and five rebounds. Leticia Jimenez also contributed with 10 rebounds.

Porterville had a much tougher time in its 87-59 loss to the MiraCosta College Spartans on Friday. The Pirates dug themselves into a 27-14 hole after the first quarter and couldn't recover.

Lopez once again had another impressive night on the court as she led PC with 17 points and seven assists while grabbing eight rebounds. Rodriguez completed her double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds while Ally Garcia posted 10 points, five assists, and four steals.

Porterville, now 0-4, looks to snap its early-season slide when the Pirated return to action on Nov. 30 when they will take on Foothill College in an opening-round game of the College the Sequoias tournament.