HAPPY NEW YEAR VICTORY!

The Hornets rang in the new year at home Friday night with a nail-biting 65-63 victory against No. 22 San Diego Mesa College in a non-conference shootout.

Fullerton's win breaks a three-game losing streak putting the team at .500 with an overall record of 8-8 heading into Orange Empire Conference-play next week. The new state rankings came out on December 30th and slotted SD Mesa at No.22 after beating OEC rivals No. 2 Orange Coast and No. 23 Santa Ana. Friday's loss gives the Olympians an 8-8 overall record heading into the new year.

The Olympians came out with the hot hand in the first quarter knocking down 5 three pointers for a 26-16 advantage heading into the second. It would be the only quarter that SD Mesa would win. Although FC outscored the Olympians 13-12 in the second, the team still had its work cut out trailing 38-29 heading into the halftime break.

Fullerton made its move in the third slicing into the Olympian's lead with key shots by Erin Choi, Kazey Cruz, Hailey Lakey, and Jaylene Perez. With 3:30 left in the quarter, the Hornets pulled within two (44-42) and the dogfight was on.

FC was down 49-45 heading into the fourth quarter but took its first lead of the game in the sixth minute on a three-pointer by Savannah Hernandez to make it 54-52. There would be four more lead changes before the Hornets pulled ahead 64-60 thanks to a nice drive to the basket by Lakey and a free throw by Choi with 23 seconds left. SD Mesa made the hometown crowd's blood pressure rise when Rhylie Willis drained a deep three to pull within one (64-63) with 13 seconds left. Erin Choi was fouled on the next possession and went 1 for 2 at the line (65-63) giving the Olympians one more shot to tie or win it. An excellent mid-air steal by Jaylene Perez in the last second ended SD Mesa's chances and sealed the upset for Fullerton.

As a team, Fullerton struggled from beyond the arc going only 1 for 13, however the Hornets made up for it by cutting down the turnovers (16 for SD Mesa and 9 FC), while outscoring their opponets 42-28 in the paint. 

Haliey Lakey was the team scoring leader for FC with 22 points. She also contributed 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and had 1 block. Erin Choi also had a great night scoring 21 points with 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals. Savannah Hernandez put up 13 points with 6 rebounds, 2 steals and a block. 

Up Next: The Hornets (8-8 overall) will host No. 21 in state Saddleback College (12-4 overall) in the Nest to open OEC-play on Wednesday, January 7th. Tipoff is at 7:00 pm.