The MSJC women's basketball team will begin their season Saturday November 2nd when they host the State's #1 ranked team, Moorpark College at 3 pm.
The Eagles are coming off a season in which they finished the year 24-7 and won their fifth conference championship in the past seven years. MSJC lost in the Southern California Regional Finals a season ago in 2019 after bringing home the State Championship in 2018. The Eagles will need to replace last season's Pacific Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Year Alyssa Walton as well as First Team All League picks Britney Neely and Sharonda Edwards. MSJC does return all-conference performer Haylei Janssens (Riverside King) who also earned 3rd Team All-State honors as a freshman. During her freshman season Janssens averaged a team best 11.4 points per game and pulled in a team high 8.6 rebounds a contest.
Overall the Eagles return five players who have logged minutes for MSJC and also have one transfer with college playing experience. De'Adra Ross (Summit), a 6'2 post player returns after playing in 30 of the team's games a season ago and making 16 starts. Alyza Lopez (Citrus Valley) a 5'5 point guard who also saw action last year as a part-time starter making 11 starts returns for MSJC. Unfortunaltey for the Eagles both Ross and Lopez will start the year on the injured list with their returns hopefully coming in the next couple of weeks. Joining that pair is Janya Smith (Cajon) who played in all 31 of the Eagles games during the 2018-19 campaign and will be asked to play a much bigger role this season. Kiana Castello (Noli Indian) comes back to the Eagle roster after being a member of the team for the 2017-18 season. Castello is a versatile player who will be asked to play various roles this season for the Eagles. MSJC also welcomes Keiara Barton (Vista Murrieta) a transfer who played her freshman season a year ago at Palomar. Barton, a 5'8 combo guard, who helped Palomar to over 20 wins a season ago will see action at both guard spots during the year.
The Eagle freshmen group is led by a number of local standouts who had highly successful high school careers. Deja Blue comes to MSJC after a strong career at Canyon Springs High School where she averaged nearly a double double as a senior. The 5'8 Blue will be transitioning from a wing/post player into a point guard this year for MSJC. The Eagles also have Blue's former high school teammate Diamonere Butler a 5'9 athlete who will add some versatility to the team at both ends of the floor. Mariah Sanchez and Haley Suarez were also high school teammates as both sharp shooters join this year's team after stand out careers at Hemet High. The pair will be looked to for some offensive punch as they both work to expand their overall games. Isabel Draheim, a true freshman from Elsinore High, joins the Eagles after averaging over 18 points per game as a senior. Draheim will also look to develop into one of the Eagles defensive stoppers. Rounding out this year's roster are; Desarie Camacho (Grand Terrace), Theresa Davis (MurrietaValley), and Kailynn Angel (Katella). This trio will add depth in both the front and back court and are expected to contribute early in the season.
Saturday's game against Moorpark will be an early test for the Eagles as the Raiders enter the season ranked #1 in the State. Last year Moorpark finished the season as the State Runners-up and return many key players from that team. The Eagles enter the year ranked #5 in Southern California. Following Saturday's contest MSJC will play at home twice next week when they host the San Jacinto Lion's Club Tip-Off Classic. Thursday November 7th the Eagles will host Antelope Valley at 7 pm and on Friday the 8th MSJC will play Palomar at 5 pm. Each day there will be a game prior with Copper Mountain playing Palomar on Thursday and Antelope on Friday.
The full MSJC women's schedule can be found here.