The San Jose City College Women’s Basketball Team defeated Las Positas College at their inaugural home game of the season on Nov. 2.

“We have a great returning group of sophomores,” said SJCC Jaguars Head Coach Terri Oberg-Hearn, who has coached the team for 34 years and is affectionately nicknamed Coach O by her players. “We’ve added a fantastic freshman group and so we’re really looking for an exciting year here at City College for women’s basketball.”

At first glance, anyone in attendance saw that the Jags had an advantage in numbers alone, with 12 players available compared to the Las Positas College Hawks’ mere seven. The Jaguars took an early lead against the Hawks in the first period, which ended with a score of 18-6, but it wasn’t pretty on either end of the court. Both teams missed multiple shots, had multiple turnovers and were called for a litany of fouls.

However, The Jags quickly tightened up their play, ending the first half up 38-13, a momentum that continued through the game’s remainder.

“Our goal was to keep the girls focused and make sure we contained the ball,” said Assistant Coach Bobby Joe Ellis. The Jags, when watching film prior to the game, were made aware that the Hawks had notably strong players on offense. So the Jags made it a priority to cover their bases defensively.

The Hawks put up a valiant effort, but just couldn’t get it done against the Jaguars’ intense speed and frenetic passing.

“We definitely have more to work on offensively and our pace needs to be faster,” said Hawks player Ranaye Manu.

Manu added, “It’s just a lot of simple mistakes that [the Hawks are] making.”

Games, and especially first games, tend to bring out the nerves in players. In this case, Jags players such as Madison Diaz and Kira Levandoski felt it, but these nerves didn’t stop them from playing effectively or solidifying their team chemistry on the court.

“There are no star players,” Oberg-Hearn said. “[We are] one group, one unison, one team.”

Times Staff reporter Christine Josey contributed to this story.