CHAFFED BY THE PANTHERS

No. 16 Fullerton stumbled out of the blocks at home Thursday night losing to Chaffey College 64-53.

It was the second consecutive loss for the Hornets, who dropped their previous game last Monday against No. 10 San Diego Mesa College 67-54. Fullerton now sits at 12-4 overall, while Chaffey's record improves to 7-6. What made it even more or a tough loss was the fact that Fullerton had beaten the Panthers earlier in the season 71-63 shooting 42.3% from the floor while forcing 23 turnovers. Tonight FC shot 37.5% with only 12 turnovers.

An Erin Choi layup at the 4-minute mark of the first quarter put FC up 6-5, but the Panthers swung it their way by the quarter's end with a 14-10 advantage. That would be the last lead of the game for the Hornets as Chaffey pulled ahead with its largest lead of 19 by the third quarter at 42-33.

Fullerton fought hard to get back in the game pulling within 6 points (59-53) with a minute left on Cienna Keowns' drive to the hoop. A comeback was not in the cards as Chaffey kept the Hornets in check.

Erin Choi was the leading scorer for FC with 14 points, while Xochitl Hood added 12 with 10 rebounds for a double-double night. Amya Iannone came off the bench to score 11 points with 5 rebounds. Cienna Keowns scored 8 points and had 4 rebounds.

Up Next: The No. 16 Hornets (12-4 overall) will open Orange Empire Conference-play on Wednesday, January 8th when they travel to Riverside City College. Game time is at 6:00 pm.