Pryor Scores 14 Off the Bench as Women's Basketball Earn Rare Win Over Central Arizona

The Pima Community College women's basketball team (14-3, 8-1 in ACCAC) came away from Coolidge, AZ with a rare victory and a first for head coach Todd Holthaus.

The No. 8 ranked Aztecs defeated Central Arizona College (12-5, 7-2) 74-52 giving Holthaus his first win over Central Arizona since he took over the women's basketball program nine years ago. The last known victory for Pima women's basketball over Central Arizona was 1982 according to Holthaus. The Aztecs won their eighth straight game in the process and 10^th in the last 11.

The Aztecs took an early lead and extended it to double digits after a 15-2 run to make it 31-12 in the second quarter. Pima led 39-20 at halftime as their defense stymied the Vaqueras to just 10 points in each of the first two quarters.

In the third quarter, the Aztecs took a 50-26 advantage with 5:15 left but Central Arizona finished the quarter on a 14-5 run to make it 55-40. The Vaqueras cut Pima's lead to 57-47 with 5:53 left, but coming out of a timeout, sophomore Hayley Pryor (Basha HS) hit a three-pointer from the top of the key. Along with two free throws from freshman Denesia Smith (Cienega HS) and another basket by Pryor, the Aztecs cushioned their lead. Pima finished the game with an 8-0 run and allowed four points in the final 4:28.

Pryor finished with a team-high 14 points off the bench. She also had five rebounds and two steals. Freshman Sydni Stallworth (Palo Verde HS) finished with 13 points while fellow freshman Erin Peterson (Catalina Foothills HS) had 12 points and six rebounds. Smith had 10 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

"Obviously a great win for the girls and coaches. Central Arizona is the standard of the conference," coach Holthaus said. "I'm just proud that we played the way we practice every day. No superstars, just good players that truly care about each other."

The Aztecs will play at South Mountain Community College on Wednesday in Phoenix. The game will be at 5:30 p.m.

Hayley Pryor (#13)/Photo by Ben Carbajal