The Cochise College women’s basketball team pulled out a tough victory over Mesa Community College 59-51 on Wednesday night.
Jordyn Penniman led the way for Cochise with 11 points, while Arianna Anderson also came up big with 10 points and 8 rebounds. Coulter Bowlen added 9 points and blocked 4 shots, plus Ciara Fields filled up the stat sheet with 9 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists. Sophia Elenga led the rebounding charge for Cochise with 11, and poured in 7 points and 2 blocks.
The story of the game was the team defense of Cochise. The squad smothered Mesa’s top scorers all night and held the visitors to just 29% shooting on a mere 19 made field goals. The execution of the defensive game plan and sinking late-game free throws was enough to overcome a subpar first-half rebounding effort for Cochise.
The match against Mesa left Cochise at 15-5 this season with a 9-4 conference record.
On Saturday, Cochise College women’s basketball team beat Tohono O’odham Jegos on the road, 59-42. Arianna Anderson, Coulter Bowlen and Rauline Martinez each had 10 points.
Sophia Elenga led the team in rebounds with 10, followed by Anderson with 8 and Guadalupe Chao with 6. Bowlen had 2 blocks and Martinez dished out 3 assists to go with 2 steals. Speaking of assists, Cochise shared the ball enough to total 16 helpers on 22 field goals as a team.
Thanks to smothering defense, Cochise held Tohono O’odham to only 31% shooting and forced 25 turnovers. Cochise Head coach Laura Hughes issued a pregame rebounding challenge to her team, which responded by out-rebounding its opponent 39-20.
Cochise is now 16-5 overall and 10-3 in conference play. The team will be on the road again to face Chandler-Gilbert CC on Wednesday, January 27.