Cougars come up short at Crossover in Santa Barbara
Rian Dillihunt poured in 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds, but LA Southwest fell 69–47 at Santa Ana as the Dons pulled away in the 2nd half.
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LA Southwest opened with strong and briefly led 7–6 after a LaiLah Whittle layup at 6:54 of the first quarter off a Rian Dillihunt feed. From there, Santa Ana strung together a 14–4 stretch to take a 20–11 lead after one. The Cougars generated second-chance looks early—Destiny Hurt-Floyd worked the glass aggressively, helping create multiple early possessions—but the visitors' perimeter makes, including threes at 9:17 and 7:44 of the second, widened the gap to 38–21 at halftime. The Cougs punched back after the break. Dillihunt buried a right-wing three at 8:50 of the third (41–24), then Whittle finished in traffic at 8:12 (41–26) to cap a 5–0 burst. Southwest held serve for several minutes with stops and free throws, but Santa Ana answered with a late-quarter push and carried a 49–34 edge into the fourth. Southwest kept competing down the stretch. Miranda Johnson hit a mid-range jumper at 5:47 of the fourth (55–40), and Dillihunt sank two free throws at 2:27 (63–45). The Cougars finished with 40 rebounds and created extra possessions on the glass, yet a cold shooting day (29.1% FG, 3–16 from three) proved too much to overcome. By the Numbers (Southwest):
Scoring by Period: Final: |
