The Bakersfield Drillers struggled with offensive rebounds on Friday (the Independence Falcons had 15 more) and sadly the final score reflected it. Bakersfield fell to Independence 60-54. Bakersfield has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Bakersfield lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Kalaya Miller, who scored 18 points along with eight assists and five steals. Miller is absolutely dominating the steal category: she's posted at least two every time she's taken the court this season. Julia Bautista was another key contributor, scoring eight points along with six assists and six rebounds.
Independence was led to victory by Ka'Rayah Robertson and Kaylynn Bolden. Robertson dropped a double-double on 11 points and 19 rebounds, while Bolden dropped a double-double on 20 points and 14 rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Robertson has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Josslyn Escobar, who scored 13 points along with two steals.
Bakersfield dropped their record down to 2-7 with that defeat, which was their fourth straight at home. As for Independence, the victory (which was their fourth in a row) raised their record to 7-9.
Bakersfield will head out on the road to challenge Highland at 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday. Highland comes in on a streak of failing to score more than 25 points in their last four games, a trend the squad is of course eager to reverse. As for Independence, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Ridgeview at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Ridgeview is coming into the matchup on a three-game losing streak.
