Knights Cruise Past Bakersfield, 67-50

The Knights ended the Santa Ana College tournament on a high note as they pulled away in the second half to defeat Bakersfield, 67-50, with Kaniya Lloyd leading the way with 21 points, seven rebounds, and four steals. Cusha Landry recorded her second double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds. 

After dropping the first two games of the tournament to Riverside and Pasadena, the Knights bounced back on the third day of the tournament with a strong effort against Bakersfield to improve to 5-5 on the season. 

City opened the game with an 11-4 run and built an 11-point second quarter lead before going into halftime with a 31-23 lead. The Knights had another strong start to the third quarter by scoring the first eight points on a 3 from Vean Gorgees, a Landry layup, and a Lloyd 3-point play to go up 39-23.

They ended up outscoring Bakersfield, 20-9, in that third quarter with Lloyd scoring nine points on 4-of-4 shooting and Gorgees knocking down two threes. The Knights defense made an impact as they held Bakersfield to 22.2% shooting.

San Diego City's lead grew to as many as 22 points with 3:41 left in the third quarter after a Lloyd layup capped off a 10-0 run to put the game away. 

Larissa Chaney was the third Knights in double figures with 15 points to go with three rebounds.

Gorgees finished with eight points, seven rebounds, and five rebounds off the bench. 

The Knights will go on a quick road trip this week with a game at Glendale (5 p.m.) on Tuesday and another at Orange Coast on Wednesday, also at 5 p.m.

They will then be back home at Harry West Gymnasium for back-to-back games against Santa Monica on Dec. 15 and Orange Coast on Dec. 16, both at 7 p.m.