Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community member Angie Montoya is a Scottsdale Community College student-athlete.

Recently, she got the start against the Salt Lake Community Bears and immediately showcased her play- making skillsets she was known for during her four-year varsity career on the Westwood High School basketball team in Mesa.

The November matchup proved to be a thrilling game between the two teams.

Coming into the game on November 18, the Fighting Artichokes began their season with two consecutive losses on November 7 and 8 against the College of Southern Nevada and Palm Beach State College. Their first win of the season came against Arizona Christian University on November 15.

The game against Salt Lake was Montoya’s second start of her SCC career thus far after coming off the bench earlier in the season against the College of Southern Nevada and Palm Beach State College.

After tip-off, both teams battled hard on the court. SCC cut off the 3-point shot for Salt Lake, forcing them inside the paint for hard contested baskets thanks to strong defense from SCC’s forwards.

As a result of the stellar defense from SCC, the Bears were unable to adjust their gameplan and would shoot 53% from the free-throw line. Comparatively, SCC shot 73% from the line, a testament to head coach Tasha Washington’s strong emphasis she puts on her team’s offensive fundamentals.

When the first quarter ended, SCC and Salt Lake were tied at 10. Once Montoya was subbed back into the game during the second quarter, she immediately impacted the game, forcing Salt Lake’s Autumn Agnew into committing several of her four turnovers. Montoya cleaned the glass as well, bringing in tough rebounds in the paint as she battled through heavy traffic from the taller Salt Lake players.

At the half, SCC trailed 23-24.

The second half was when the Fighting Artichokes began to pull away enroute to their second victory of the 2024-2025 season.

Continuing to put a stop to Salt Lake’s offensive output, SCC was able to convert many of Salt Lake’s turnovers into points by adding 17 points in the third quarter compared to Salt Lake’s thirteen. By doing so, SCC would slowly begin to pull away when at the end of the third quarter, the Fighting Artichokes led 40-36.

Montoya and her teammates beat the Bears, 56-51. It was Salt Lake’s second loss of the season after having won back-to-back games before making the daytime trip to Scottsdale. The win brought SCC’s overall record to 2 wins and 2 losses as they hope to make a deep playoff run this year with the goal of winning the state championship.

Scottsdale Community College Women’s Basketball Schedule (December)

The following dates/times are subject to change.

• December 11, 5:30 p.m. at home against South Mountain Community College

• December 14, 2 p.m. at home against Yavapai College

• December 18, 5:30 p.m. at home against Park University-Gilbert junior varsity