WOMEN’S BASKETBALL JC STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS : Golden West Holds On to Win Title

Golden West College held off a Los Angeles Valley comeback to win its second consecutive state women’s junior college basketball championship.

After leading by as many as 23 points in the second half, Golden West escaped with a 77-75 victory Saturday night at Valley in Van Nuys.

Golden West (35-1), which has won 27 games in a row and 72 of 74 in the past two seasons, led, 43-24, at halftime and 61-38 a third of the way through the second half.

However, Valley (32-5) came back behind guard Tisa Rush. She scored a game-high 34 points and had 17 in the last 10 minutes.

Allison Bickel scored Golden West’s final points on two free throws with 13 seconds to play and finished with a team-leading 20. Jennifer Harney added 18 and tournament most valuable player Bits Sirchia had 15 and six assists.