Righetti High School graduate Bree Luna (left) and Orcutt Academy grad Khaelii Robertson-Mack have been the leading scorers for the Hancock College women's basketball team. Luna is a freshman. Mack, the team's leading scorer and rebounder last year, is a sophomore. Mack leads the team in scoring and rebounding this season.
The short-handed Hancock College women's basketball team had a terrible time of it against unbeaten College of the Sequoias Tuesday night.
The Bulldogs took an 87-24 drubbing at the hands of the Giants in a non-conference game at Hancock's Joe White Memorial Gymnasium. The 63-point loss equaled the worst defeat suffered by a Hancock women's basketball team since 2019 and was the worst home loss in any season on record at Hancock.
College of the Sequoias is 7-0. Hancock is 1-6.
Injuries left the Bulldogs down to six players Tuesday night, and the injuries appeared to be serious ones. Two of the injured Bulldogs were on crutches, and another was in a walking boot on her foot.
"I don't know when, or if, our injured players will be back," said second-year Hancock head coach Danah Smith.
With her team hit hard by graduation, "I scheduled a tough pre-season for a reason," to harden her young team for its conference schedule, said Smith. "I didn't think I'd be doing it with six," players.
On the first shot of the game, Hancock season scoring leader Khaelii Robertson-Mack dipped between two defenders and put in a shot from about five feet away from the hoop for the first points of the game at the 9:41 mark of the first quarter. That was as good as it got for the Bulldogs.
Robertson-Mack missed all of her remaining 12 shots, and Hancock shot nine-for-52 from the field as a team. Freshman point guard Bree Luna, on three-for-10 shooting from the field, led Hancock with 10 points.
The Giants sliced through the Bulldogs' match-up zone defense and shot 37-for-64 from the field, 56.7 percent. The Hancock defense came up with 17 COS turnovers, but the Bulldogs turned the ball over 24 times.
The College of the Sequoias shooters were particularly proficient in the even-numbered quarters. The Giants shot 12-for-18 from the field, 66.7 percent, from the floor in the second quarter, and 10-for-14 from the field, 71.4 percent, in the fourth.
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The Giants routed the Bulldogs on the boards, out-rebounding Hancock 53-19.
Five Giants scored in double figures, and 10 Giants scored. Vieg Campbell and Mallary Gonzalez led the Giants with 14 points apiece. Campbell went six-for-seven from the field, and Gonzalez was seven-for-nine.
Jocelyn Medina scored 13 points for COS. Morgan Trigueiro put in 12 points, and Kaitlin Giacone had 10.
Gonzalez and Giacone pulled down eight rebounds each for the Giants. Medina had seven. Anastasia Drolette led the Bulldogs in rebounds with five.
Four players from the 2023-24 Hancock team that went 17-13 overall, 9-3 in the Western State Conference North Division and won a regional playoff game graduated.
Among the graduated were India Dowling, Mallory Branum and Giselle Calderon, all of whom averaged in double figures scoring. Dowling-Green was the team's second-leading rebounder behind Robertson-Mack. Another graduated player, Chyanna Tell, was an important floor leader for the Bulldogs and was second on the team behind Calderon in assists.
"We just have to get well," said Smith. "And we will get well."
Hancock will play a non-conference game at Los Angeles Harbor Friday at 3 p.m.