El Capitan has won five straight games at home (dating back to last season), while Merced has won five straight on the road, but those streaks won't matter much on Tuesday. The El Capitan Gauchos will host the Merced Bears at 7:15 p.m. One thing working in El Capitan's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last five games.
Last Tuesday, El Capitan was fully in charge, breezing past Pitman 66-25. The Gauchos have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won nine matchups by 24 points or more this season.
The match pitted two dominant guards against one another in Madysen Dietz and Dailynn Greener. Dietz had a great game and posted 17 points and eight steals. Meanwhile, Greener did her best for the losing side, putting up 11 points and six rebounds.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Merced). They came out on top against Antioch by a score of 68-61 on Thursday.
Merced's win came from a few key players El Capitan will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Averie Steverson, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and 19 rebounds. With that strong performance, she is now averaging an impressive 15.1 points per game. Another player making a difference was Antonia Lejarde, who put up 13 points in addition to seven boards and seven steals.
Merced smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 29 offensive boards. That's the most offensive rebounds they've managed all season.
Merced is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a massive bump to their 10-7 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 53.0 points per game. As for El Capitan, their victory bumped their record up to 15-3.
El Capitan didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Merced in their previous matchup back in January of 2024, but they still walked away with a 45-41 win. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Steverson, who went 11 of 13 on her way to 26 points along with eight rebounds and six steals. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will El Capitan still be able to contain Steverson? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
