Women's Basketball in opening round of Fullerton Tourney vs SD Mesa. Photo courtesy of Pete Rojas.
Posted: Dec 29, 2016
By John M. Sherrard
(Fullerton) Mt. SAC guards Dominique McLaughlin and Maddeline Dopplick led the Mountie women to a convincing, 92-49, victory in the opening game of the Colleen Riley Women's Basketball Holiday Invitational Tuesday night at Fullerton College.
McLaughlin had a game-high 24 points for the second time this season, while Dopplick added 20. Dopplick, who also had five rebounds, scored 20 or more for the third time this season.
As a team the Mounties poured in a season-high 14 three-pointers, led by McLaughlin and Dopplick with six and five long-range baskets, respectively.
The win was the ninth in a row for the Mounties (14-1), who moved up to No. 2 this week in the CCCWBCA state poll.
Mt. SAC will face Santa Monica College (9-6), an 84-53 winner over Cerritos College, on Wednesday in the championship semifinals at 7:00pm.
The Mounties received scoring from 12 of the 14 players in the game and had two 20-plus scorers for the first time this year.
The Mounties started the first quarter with an 11-1 lead, with seven of those points coming from McLaughlin.
However, the fast start ended there for the Mounties as Mesa went on a 13-2 run and took its first lead of the game, 14-13, to end the quarter.
Halfway through the second quarter the Olympians stretched the lead to five points, 24-19, but that's where the Mounties began their quest for their ninth straight win.
Behind Dopplicks' seven points, including two 3-pointers, the Mounties finished the first half on a run of their own, outscoring Mesa, 12-1, for the 31-25 lead.
The Mounties, who are aiming for their fourth tourney title this season, took control in the second half as Dopplick and McLaughlin poured in three long-range baskets in the third quarter each, taking a commanding 26-point lead, 66-40, heading into the final quarter.
With a second left in the third, Mt. SAC sophomore guard Amari Terry (9 assists, 5 points) put the exclamation point on the 35-point quarter with the tenth long-range score of the game.
In a just over a one-minute span in the quarter, McLaughlin drained her three, three-pointers. The freshman now has a team-leading 25 three's this season.
The final quarter was more of the same offensive output with the Mounties outscoring Mesa, 26-9.
Highlighting the game was a bench that contributed 32 points and as a team, the Mounties scored 28 points off of 29 Mesa turnovers.
Also contributing for the Mounties with eight points was sophomore G/F Aliyah Dickson (8 RB), while Kali Jones (6 RB, steal) and Allyah George (10 RB, 3 steals) had seven points each.
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For additional information, please contact the Mt. SAC Sports Information Office at 909.274.4630