Pima Community College sports

No. 6 Pima thwarts comeback bid by Snow College in Bruce Fleck Classic

Jaslyn Booker (left) had a double-double and Melissa Simmons finished with a team-high 14 points in Pima’s win over Snow College on Saturday (Pima photos)

The No. 6-ranked Pima College women’s basketball team wrapped up day three of the Bruce Fleck Classic at its West Gym by stopping an attempted come back by the Snow (Utah) College Badgers in a 55-47 win Saturday.

The Badgers came as close as two points with two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

A pair of free throws by Angel Addlemann (Palo Verde graduate) and Luisayde Chavez (Rio Rico) with less than one minute left in the game was enough to put it out of reach and secure the win for Pima (12-5).

“We knew it was going to be a tough match up, just because Snow is a big, physical team,” Pima coach Todd Holthaus said. “The ladies did a great job of fighting, being strong and they persevered. We didn’t play great, but we played tough and that was the difference.”

The Bruce Fleck Classic featured all NJCAA Division I teams much like the Aztec Classic for the men.

Holthaus’ team went 2-1 against the higher competition, losing to Frank Phillips (Texas) College and beating Colorado Northwestern and Snow College.

“A lot of times, they’ll have bigger stronger athletes, so its always a good test for us to play these three games and then we start conference next week,” Holthaus said. “That’s kind of the purpose of why we do it, when we do it.”

Guard Melissa Simmons led the Aztecs in scoring with 14 points. She also had four rebounds. Addleman followed with 13 points, four rebounds and four steals.

Forward Jaslyn Booker (Buena) had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Pima started the game strong, outscoring Snow 30-15 in the first half. The Aztecs took advantage of a 1-of-11 second quarter shooting slump by the Badgers.

Snow attempted a comeback in the second half with the Badgers outscoring Pima 17-11 in the third quarter, cutting the Aztecs’ lead to 41-32.

Snow College then went on a 15-8 run in the fourth quarter to trim Pima’s lead to 49-47 with 2:11 left.

Pima kept its composure and scored six unanswered points, including the free throws by Addleman and Chavez, to pull away.

“We just didn’t panic. As a coach I don’t like to see teams come back on us like that, but we kept our composure,” said Holthaus. “The big thing was we made free throws down the stretch. That’s probably what the biggest difference was.”

Pima will next host Scottsdale on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

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