by The Pima Community College women’s basketball team (14-3, 8-1 in ACCAC) scored a huge comeback victory on Saturday against Division I team Central Arizona College (11-6, 7-2).
The No. 3 ranked Aztecs outscored the Vaqueras 28-10 in the fourth quarter to earn the 83-73 win.
Down 65-55 in the early minutes of the fourth quarter, the Aztecs went on a 12-0 run to take a 67-65 lead. Up 70-67, the Aztecs went on another 8-2 run in two minutes to make it 78-69 with 1:02 left in the game.
The Aztecs trailed 19-18 after the first quarter and went on a 13-4 run to make it 31-23 but the Vaqueras closed out the half scoring the final 17 of 21 points. The Aztecs fell behind 40-35 at the break. The Vaqueras led by as much as 10 points in the third quarter.
Sophomore Christine Ortega (Flowing Wells HS) was a force inside the paint as she finished with a game-high 29 points with 12 rebounds. She went 11 for 16 from the floor and 7 for 8 from the free throw line. She had 10 points on 5 for 5 shooting at halftime.
Sophomore Aubre Fortner finished the game with 19 points and nine rebounds while freshman Jacqulynn Nakai (Navajo) contributed with 13 points and nine assists. Freshman RyLeigh Long scored 11 points off the bench.
The Aztecs will play at Mesa Community College on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. This will be the first meeting with the Aztecs and the Thunderbirds since their Region I, Division II finals game last season. Mesa beat Pima 74-72 to move on to the NJCAA Division II National Tournament.
