In a game plagued with errors by both teams, the William Jessup Warriors produced one sustained run late in the 2nd half and slipped past UC Santa Cruz 56-46 in Rocklin. Going into the game, the Slugs built a five game win streak on the strength of good shooting, tough defense and strong rebounding.  On Friday night, the Warriors outshot the Slugs 52% to 38%, won the turnover battle 29-25 and nearly out rebounded the Slugs.

Both teams struggled early, as nearly 4 minutes passed before the Warriors opened the scoring with a 3 pointer from Cassie Davidson.  Shortly after, Sarah Mackey would pick up her second foul and sit out the remainder of the 1st half.  With Mackey on the bench the Slugs would take a 19-14 lead on the strength of strong three point shooting from Jen Marquez, Danielle Mofsowitz and Alison Scarbrough.  Alison led the Slugs with 14 points. The Warriors got a key basket right before the half to cut the lead to 23-20 and rolled into the locker room with momentum.

The Slugs opened the second half strong as Leah Parrish and Geena Giovannetti set up Sarah Mackey for 3 easy baskets as the lead rose to 27-22 with 17minutes to play. This is where the Warriors made a strategic defensive change which tipped the game their way. The Warriors extended their defense to a three quarter court press.  The Slugs handled the press for the most part but frequently used 15 seconds of the shot clock to set up their offense. This resulted in several possessions where the Slugs rushed shots or forced passes that resulted in Warrior baskets.  Over the next 10 minutes, the Warriors outscored the Slugs 24 to 12 taking a 46-39 lead.

Erin Joo played strong defense helping the Slugs cut the deficit to 48-43 with 3:01 to play but this was not enough as the Warriors continued to hit critical shots and clutch free throws down the stretch to seal the game.  The Slugs play UC Merced Saturday in the second of back to back games.