By COREY MCMULLEN
Women’s Basketball
Pima Community College women’s basketball team continues to roll, winning 3 of its last 5, including a big win over Scottsdale. The Aztecs are currently ranked No. 11.
Dec. 9: PCC 72, Arizona Western 67
The Aztecs defeated the Matadors (Division I) 72-67. The Aztecs trailed 30-28 at halftime but opened the third quarter on a 16-5 run in almost seven minutes to take a 44-35 lead. The Aztecs outscored the Matadors 29-11 in the quarter to take a 57-41 advantage. The Aztecs were outscored 26-15 in the final period. Sophomore point guard Alyssa Perez stole the inbound pass and was fouled. She drained her free throws to put the game away.
Dec. 7: PCC 83, Scottsdale Community College 70
The Aztecs bounced back with a big win over the Scottsdale Community College. The Aztecs went into halftime up 37-25 and continued to roll in the second half. The bench play of sophomore Haile Gleason as well as freshmen Aaliyah Ortiz and Dianne Hefner combined for 32 points. Gleason had 14 points while Ortiz contributed with 11 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Hefner added 7 points and 7 rebounds. Five different Aztecs finished with double-figure scores.
“Big-time road win,” said Pima women’s basketball coach Todd Holthaus. “The team battled through foul trouble but the play of Haile (Gleason), Aaliyah (Ortiz) and Dianne (Hefner) off the bench was huge.” This is the first win for the sophomores over Scottsdale Community college.
Dec. 4: PCC 70, Central Arizona College 74
The Aztecs just fall short to (Division I) Central College in a hard-fought loss. The Aztecs opened the first quarter on an 18-8 run and led 22-17 after the first quarter. Central Arizona opened the second quarter on a 13-2 run to take a 30-24 advantage. The Aztecs trailed 35-25 but scored the final 5 points of the quarter to close it to 35-30 at the break. Perez finished with a team-high 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Nov. 23: PCC 77, Eastern Arizona 76
The Aztecs get big win on the road. The Aztecs led the entire game, but key defensive plays and free throws helped them beat the Gila Monsters (Division I) 77-76 in Thatcher. The Aztecs took control early on and went on an 11-0 run between the first and second quarters to take a 19-6 lead. The Aztecs led 71-62 with 3:20 left, but the Gila Monsters went on an 8-0 run to make it a 1-point game at 71-70. Sophomore Hallie Lawson hit a jumper on the next possession.
Nov. 20: PCC 71, Cochise College 76
The No. 6-ranked Aztecs fell to the No. 22-ranked (Division I) Apaches 76-71. The Aztecs trailed by 15 points but took the lead with four minutes left in the game. Perez and Lawson each finished with 14 points. Ortiz added 13 points.
Men’s Basketball
The Aztecs’ lackluster season continued with a 5-4 record and 3-2 in conference play and their last five games. Currently, the Aztecs are not ranked.
Dec. 9: PCC 87, Arizona Western College 79
The Aztecs got a much-needed conference win over Arizona Western College, giving the Matadors their first conference loss this season. The game went to halftime tied at 41. The Aztecs trailed 76-73 but went on a 10-0 run in two minutes to take an 83-76 lead with 46.3 seconds left. The Aztecs held the Matadors to just 3 points the rest of the game. Freshman Sammy Legleu tied the game with a three-pointer, which was followed by sophomore Nick Rosquist’s three-ball, making it 79-76 and forcing the Matadors to call timeout. Legleu scored a basket in the paint and sophomore Rashad Smith knocked down two free throws, forcing Arizona Western to use another timeout.
Dec. 7: PCC 66, Scottsdale Community College 72
Aztecs dropped to the Artichokes in conference play. The two teams were neck and neck with each other the whole game. The Aztecs trialed 34-33 going into halftime. Sophomore Cole Gerken led the way with 20 points and 8 rebounds. Fellow sophomore Kaylon Tippins finished with a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds. He also had 5 blocks for the game.
Dec. 4: PCC 86, Central Arizona 66
After a rough road loss, the Aztecs bounced back at home with a dominant win over Central Arizona. The Aztecs led from the opening tipoff and never gave up the lead. The Aztecs opened the game on a 21-4 run as sophomore Nick Rosquist came out the gate early and scored 12 straight points for the Aztecs. He started the game going 4 for 4 from three-point range. The Vaqueros closed the gap to a 10-point deficit at 40-30 with under a minute left. The Aztecs led 43-32 at halftime. Five different Aztecs put up double figures.
Nov. 23: PCC 69, Eastern Arizona College 96
The Aztecs were overwhelmed the entire game by Eastern Arizona and never led the game. Eastern Arizona came out the gate early and went on a 12-3 run. The Aztecs trailed going into halftime 47-26 and trailed by as much as 39 points at 90-51.
Nov. 20: PCC 91, Cochise College 78
The Aztecs got a big road win as freshman Jake Lieppert put on a scoring clinic, dropping 48 points going 10-14 from the three-point line. Lieppert finished with a double, adding 10 rebounds to his 48 points. This was the highest number of points an Aztec has scored individually since Shakir Smith dropped 54 in February 2014. Rashad Smith finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists.