The women’s basketball team was unable to fend-off the Sacramento City College Panthers during the Coaches vs. Cancer event on Tuesday.

During this matchup, the Hawks are also hosting the Coaches vs. Cancer event to raise funds for former CRC Men’s Basketball Assistant Coach Charles “C-dub” Wilder who died of cancer earlier this year. The event is also aimed at raising money to fight cancer for the local community.

Sacramento City College is a division rival and a win here would’ve been a statement against the third best team of the Big Eight Conference

In the first half, the Panthers were able to pull ahead with a 13-point lead against the Hawks.

Injuries played a big part of the Hawks’ loss. Freshman Forward Arianna Santos had to be walked off the court after re-injuring her ankle during the start of the third quarter.

“The biggest thing that we can’t do anything about right now is personnel,” said Head Coach Coral Sage. “We don’t really have any post players. It’s hard to play with five or six guards.”

The Panthers’ lead was due to their three-point shooting early on and a scoring drought from the Hawks. The Panthers moved the ball around and were able to knock-down over 50 percent of their shots from the three-point line.

The players said their main problem was on the defensive end.

“As a team, I think we lacked defensive intensity,” said Freshman Guard Arionna Butts.

The Hawks operated mainly in the paint, grabbing offensive rebounds and drawing fouls. Despite converting free-throws and second-chance points, they struggled with their shooting l throughout the first two quarters.

The second half wasn’t any better for the Hawks. As their scoring drought continued, the Panthers were able to keep adding to their lead.

“It would’ve probably helped if we scored more,” said Sophomore Guard Brookelyn Larkin. “Overall, we need to learn to come out more and not wait to the end.”

Even though the Hawks were able to keep the visitors away from the three-pointers in the second half, there were far too many empty possessions to climb back into the game.

“I’m proud of the girls, they played hard,” Sage said. “We don’t always make our shots or hit the right queues on defense, but you never question their heart.”