College of the Redwoods Athletics – From left to right, Rachel Valdez, Lily Hoban and Kathryce Danzuka

The College of the Redwoods women’s basketball team bounced back from an opening-day loss at the Sierra College tournament to beat Yuba 71-47 on Friday.

The win was the first of the season for the Corsairs, who improved to 1-4 and finally got the breakthrough after a few close early-season losses.

“Overall, we’re starting to get more comfortable with each other on the court and learning from every game,” head coach Jain Tuey said. 

Rachel Valdez continued her impressive start to the new season and finished with 19 points, while teammate Kathryce Danzuka added 14 points and Lily Hoban 13.

Team defense also played a role in the win, as Tuey and her players switched some things up.

“We picked it up defensively and added full court pressure today, which led to more scoring opportunities,” the coach said.

The Corsairs will try to make it two straight wins when they take on Fresno in their final tournament game on Saturday.

The CR women, who dropped their first tournament game to Chabot on Thursday, will play their home opener against Marin on Tuesday at 5 p.m.