Pirates, Castro earn first win; Porterville off to 2-1 start to begin 2024-25 season

PORTERVILLE – The Porterville College women's basketball team under new head coach Isaac Castro is 2-1 to open the 2024-25 season after the Pirates won two out of three straight home games to begin their schedule.

PC dropped its season-opener on Tuesday, falling to Lassed College by a final score of 82-62. But Castro earned his first career victory on Wednesday thanks to the Pirates' 90-72 triumph over College of the Desert. Porterville closed the opening-week stretch on Thursday with a 72-54 win against Compton College.

Lassen 82, Porterville 62
Sophomore Andrea Perez scored a team-high 20- points while freshman Danae Banuelos recorded a double-double in her collegiate debut with 17 points and a game-high 13 rebounds in the PC's opening-night loss.

Porterville stayed with Lassen for most of the contest until the Pirates were outscored 22-10 in the fourth quarter.

Sophomore Anjolie Cibrian came off the bench to score 14 points while freshman Alexis Vazquez contributed 8 rebounds.

Porterville 90, Desert 72
The two squads battled to a 59-59 tie after three quarters before PC pulled out the win by outscoring COD 31-13 in the fourth.

Banuelos had a historical game, pulling down an amazing 30 rebounds while scoring 17 points for her second straight double-double to help lead Porterville to its first win.

Perez also put up another big game as she totaled 22 points, 7 assists, and 6 rebounds. Vazquez had a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds while Olivia Torres contributed 19 points. Jada Bravo added 10 points and 6 boards.

Porterville72, Compton 54
The Pirates built a 30-24 lead at halftime and were able to hang on for their second win.

Banuelos closed the week with her third consecutive double-double with 25 points and 13 boards. She added 5 blocks, 3 steals, and 3 assists to her impressive night.

Cibrian had 16 points, Torres scored 13 points, while Perez contributed 6 points, 9 steals, and 7 rebounds.

Up next: The Pirates travel to Gavilan College in Gilroy on Nov. 13 for a 3 p.m. non-conference game.