by The Pima Community College women’s basketball team (15-4, 9-2 in ACCAC) put together a third quarter rally which helped it defeat Arizona Western College (13-6, 8-3) on Saturday at the West Campus Gym.
The No. 3 ranked Aztecs outscored the Matadors 30-13 in the quarter and went on to win 89-73.
Down 45-36 at halftime, the Aztecs put together a 16-7 run to open the third and tie the game at 52-52. They took their first lead at 58-57 with about three minutes left in the third quarter. Between the third and fourth quarters, the Aztecs took over with a 15-1 run to make it 73-58.
The Aztecs trailed 25-13 after the first quarter and were down by as much as 13 points in the second quarter.
Freshman Jacqulynn Nakai (Navajo) went off as she scored a game-high 31 points on 10 for 20 shooting. She also had five rebounds and four assists. Nakai had averaged 10.5 points in the last four games heading into Saturday’s contest.
Sophomore Izzy Spruit (Mesquitwe HS) scored 14 of her 17 points in the second half as she hit five 3-pointers. Freshman RyLeigh Long scored 14 points off the bench on 5 for 7 shooting. Sophomore Christine Ortega (Flowing Wells HS) contributed with nine points and 10 rebounds.
The Aztecs head into the second half of their season on Wednesday when they host Tohono O’odham Community College. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. at the West Campus Gymnasium.
