Solano falls in opening round
Lassen's Collier scores 27 points as Falcons' season ends in playoffs
The Solano College women's basketball team was uncharacteristically without energy and a tendency to hit the big shot on Wednesday night.
Unfortunately for the Falcons, Lassen College's Sydeni Collier decided to show up.
Collier scored a game-high 27 points and hit six 3-pointers, four of them in the second half to lead Lassen to a 57-52 upset on the road over Solano in the first round of the California Community College Athletic Association Womens Basketball Norcal Regionals.
The Falcons finished the season with a 19-10 record and secondplace finish in the Bay Valley Conference (12-2 record). But after a finishing stretch of five games in 10 days — the majority of them on the road — Solano had the look of a tired team at playoff time.
“I don't know. I don't know if I can say I'm surprised. We've been a little tired,” Solano head coach Matt Borchert said. “A lot of road games, but who knows? We have to be better. We just didn't make shots. We've had that issue all season long. We've gotten better at it, moving the ball and doing some things. But when you get back to the playoffs you worry if that's going to rear its ugly head again. And it kind of did.”
Still, Solano led at the end of the first quarter and the half. A nice post move by Ale Ibarra and two free throws by Jaslyn Woods put the Falcons up 14-8 midway through the first quarter, but Solano could only score three more points in the first period.
Meanwhile, Collier began heating up for Lassen, scoring nine points in the period.
Both teams were colder than a