Comets 3-peat as conference champs

SAN MARCOS, CA (2/23/2024) -- The Palomar College Women's Basketball team defeated San Diego Mesa College for their third consecutive outright PCAC Conference Championship 61-49 on Friday night. 

The Olympians got the best of the Comets in the first round, handing Palomar their first conference loss in two seasons. The Comets bounced back and defeated everyone dominantly and clinched a piece of the title on Wednesday night when Imperial Valley College defeated Mesa for the second time this season to set up the outright title game. 

Palomar and Mesa went tit-for-tat in the first half each scoring 16 points in both quarters for a 32-32 tie at the half. The Comets made the proper adjustments and essentially won the game in the third quarter when they went on a 16-6 run to take the largest lead of the game. They didn't let up as Mesa wasn't going to go down just yet and the Comets outscored the Olympians 13-11 in the fourth to claim the championship. 

On sophomore night, sophomore guard Mackenzie Kozina made sure to shine by putting the team on her back finishing with a team-high 14 points to along with six rebounds, four offensive, one steal, an assist and two blocks. Freshman Angelina De Leon finished with 12 points, nine rebounds, two assists, three steals and two blocks. Faith Brinkman finished with eight rebounds, one assist and five points. Rokhaya Cisse finished with 10 points, one rebound and five steals. 

Palomar finished the regular season 23-5 overall and 11-1 in conference play. They will wait to see where they are seeded in the 2024 3C2A SoCal Regional playoff on Sunday.