Cougars suffer pair of losses at Gavilan tournament

The Taft College women's basketball team will be happy to turn the page on 2019. On Sunday, the Cougars closed out the calendar year with a pair of losses at the Gavilan College Crossover Tournament in Gilroy. Taft fell 80-37 to Cabrillo College on Saturday and ended the weekend with an 82-40 loss to College of San Mateo on Sunday.

Taft went 2-13 in non-conference games and up next is its Central Valley Conference schedule. The Cougars play at College of the Sequoias on January 8 in both teams' CVC opener. TC follows that with a 3 p.m. conference game at Reedley three days later (Jan. 11).

In the loss to Cabrillo, Taft fell behind early and trailed 21-9 after the first quarter. The Cougars trailed 36-19 at halftime and could never get back into the game.

Sam Washburn led Taft with 13 points while Maysan Raleigh added 12 points and 7 rebounds. Mercy Montgomery chipped in with 6 rebounds and 2 points.

Taft got off to a good start against San Mateo and trailed by just four points (19-15) after the opening quarter. But the Cougars couldn't keep pace and were outscored 63-25 the rest of the contest.

Rayleigh led Taft with 14 points and 6 rebounds while Washburn added 12 points. Anaeja Phumphrey totaled 4 steals to go with 2 points.