Thaleya Nickson goes up for two of her 15 points against Merced on Friday.
The Solano women’s basketball team finished the preseason with a .500 record after going 1-2 at the Mike Gervasoni Memorial Classic at De Anza College in Cupertino.
The post-Christmas tournament features some of the top teams in Northern California and Solano saw vast improvement as a team while many of the Falcons had breakout games.
Freshman forward Marissa Dunn averaged 18.6 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocked shots and 3 steals in the three games while also shooting 62 percent from the field. She scored a season high 23 points against Lassen in the consolation semifinals. Thaleya Nickson, also a freshman, came off the bench in each of the three games to average 11.3 points and 3.6 rebounds. She scored a season high 15 points in the final two games of the tournament.
Solano opened with an 87-62 loss to City College of San Francisco. The Falcons fell behind early to the No. 2 team in the North as the Rams used their athleticism and quickness to overpower Solano.
The Falcons (8-8) stayed alive in the tournament by comfortably beating Lassen 98-48. The 98 points is a season high for SCC. Solano fell in the consolation championship to Merced, 75-70. Merced jumped out to a 17-point advantage early in the first half and controlled most of the game. Solano battled back to cut the lead to 3 with about a minute to go in the game, but couldn’t quite get over the hurdle to take a lead.
“I was proud of the effort, but I would’ve liked to see us be a little more competitive early in the game (against Merced),” said Solano coach Matt Borchert. “Considering our schedule, though, I am very happy with a .500 record heading into the BVC schedule.”
Solano, winners of the last four Bay Valley Conference titles, opens the conference slate on Wednesday, January 4 at Napa Valley College. The game tips off at 5:30 p.m.
Click here to see more photos from the Gervasoni tournament.
