Rachel Cain had 15 points for the Dons in the OEC game against Fullerton College.
Rachel Cain had 15 points for the Dons in the OEC game against Fullerton College.
January 14, 2015

Dons Edged by Fullerton 72-69 as Rally Runs out of Time

Visiting Fullerton held a lead as large 14 points before the Dons rallied late. However, the Dons were unable to get their first OEC win as they lost by three.

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SANTA ANA - For the second straight game, the Dons found themselves needing to come from behind only to have their rally fall short. This time, after trailing to Fullerton College (13-5, 2-1) by as many as 14 points, the Dons (6-12, 0-2) lost 72-69.

The visiting Hornets found themselves up by as many as 13 just 10 minutes into the first half at 23-10 before the Dons began chipping away at the lead. Vanessa Ramirez hit a three-pointer before back-to-back two-pointers by Kylie Rodriguez and Ramirez to pull the Dons within six.

After Noelle Cobb made a layup for Fullerton, Rachel Cain buried back-to-back three-pointers to get the Dons within two at 25-23. The Hornets would eventually take a 34-30 lead into halftime.

It took Fullerton just under seven minutes into the second half to extend its lead to 14, its largest of the game, at 53-39. The Hornets wouldn't allow the Dons to get closer than eight points for the next nine minutes before Rodriguez hit a layup at 4:02 to cut Fullerton's lead to 61-55.

Finally, in the last minute of the game, the Dons were able to take advantage of a steal and three missed three-pointers to have a chance at a game-tying shot. Down 72-69, the Dons got the ball back with 11 seconds but were unable to get a shot attempt.

Rodriguez led the Dons with 17 points followed by Cain with 15 points. Jocelyn Calvillo joined them in double-digit scoring with 11 points. Fullerton was led by Emilee Dy with 18 points while Michelle Okoroike added 15 points, Cobb added 12 points and Kelli Calton scored 11 points.