Mariners' Basketball hosted the Yuba College 49ers on Wednesday evening and fell 71-49. Marin struggled to score in the first half as they fell down by double digits by halftime. They rallied as the offense opened up in the second half, but still went down by 22 points in the end. Kaleah Williams came off the bench for Marin to lead all scorers with 22 points.
Marin jumped out to an early 5-3 lead, but Yuba answered with an 11-2 burst to lead 14-7 with two minutes left in the first quarter. Williams buried a wing three to cut the deficit to 14-10 at the end of the first quarter.
The Mariners kept within striking distance in the second quarter, trailing Yuba 24-19 with three minutes left. The visitors began to employ a full court press and increased their lead to 33-19 by the first half whistle.
The 49ers continued to press in the second half, despite a sizeable lead. It continued to pay dividends as the Mariners struggle to break it, resulting in a number of 10 second violations and live ball turnovers. By the end of the third quarter Yuba's lead reached 50-29.
Marin did not wither in the fourth quarter as their offensive finally awoke. The Mariners tallied 20 points in the final stanza, nearly equaling their 29 from the opening 30 minutes of competition. Williams was the driving force in the final minutes, scoring with ease against the 49ers' defenders. The Mariners' outburst unfortunately had little effect on the result as Yuba tallied 21 fourth quarter points in route to the 71-49 final score.
Williams scored 22 points on 7 of 13 shooting with three made three pointers and five free throws. She added nine rebounds, two blocks and a steal for an excellent all-around performance. Vanessa Torres scored 10 for Marin while Victoria Bing had a game high 12 rebounds.
The loss dropped the Mariners' record to 7-14 overall and 4-6 in the Bay Valley Conference. Next up is a road date with the Los Medanos Mustangs on Friday, February 7th at 7:30pm.
