Comet Women Earn Return Trip to State Championship Tournament

    San Marcos-- Coach Leigh Marshall's Palomar College Women's Basketball Team has qualified for a second consecutive trip to the CCCAA State Championship Tournament, scheduled for Thursday, Saturday and Sunday (Mar. 8, 10-11) at Ventura College, opening with a quarterfinal match versus Merced College on Thursday at 1:00 p.m.

    Palomar (29-1) and the No. 1 seed from the Southern Region, earned a return to the state's eight-team, single elimination tournament by posting a convincing 71-42 win over Moorpark College at The Dome this past Saturday. Merced (26-5) is the No. 4 seeded team from the state's Northern Region. If the Comets can get past the Blue Devils on Thursday, they'll advance to a state semifinal match on Saturday versus the winner of the quarterfinal matchup between Fresno City College (26-5, No. 2 North) and Los Angeles Trade Tech (24-6, No. 3 South) on Saturday. The winner of that game will play in the CCCAA State Championship game on Sunday. The top seeds in the lower half of the eight-team bracket are Sierra College of Rocklin (29-1, North No. 1) and PCAC-rival Mt. San Jacinto (29-2, South No. 2). All state tournament games will be played at Ventura College. 

    A torrid pace and smothering defense proved the difference in Palomar's eleventh-straight and state tournament-qualifying win over Moorpark. The Comets limited the Raiders to 17 field goals on 53 attempts --including just 2-of-16 from three-point range-- (32 percent overall), while forcing 19 turnovers and allowing Moorpark only nine offensive rebounds. Meanwhile, Palomar connected on 28-of-64 field-goal attempts, including 10-of-25 from beyond the arc. Sophomores Quinesha Vanhook, Vinessa Perryman and Monica Todd paced a balanced scoring attack with 12 points each, while sophomore Sophia Neubauer added 10. The Comets also enjoyed a 40-33 advantage in team rebounds, led by Megan Scott with nine and Neubauer with six. Moorpark completed its' season at 22-7.