Sophomores Aliyah Montiel and Joselyn Santillan both scored 12 points each to help lead the Rio Hondo College Roadrunners to an opening-day win, a 68-48 victory over Citrus College in a first-round game of the Mt. San Antonio College Tip-Off Tournament in Walnut.

Trailing 21-16 after the first quarter, Rio Hondo opened the second with an 18-2 run to jump ahead for good 34-23 at the 3:41 mark. Citrus went ice cold during the second quarter as the Owls made just 3 of 13 shots while Rio Hondo stepped up the defensive pressure by forcing 14 turnovers.

The Roadrunners led 42-27 at halftime and outscored Citrus 15-6 in the fourth quarter to close out the victory.

Montiel added four rebounds, four steals, and three assists while Santillan had six rebounds and three assists to go along with their 12 points. Destinee Garr led the Roadrunners on the boards with 13 rebounds and also chipped in with eight points while Marisa DeLeon nearly had a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds.

 Also for Rio Hondo, Raquel Romero scored nine points and off the bench Kim Urbina and Emily Mercedes both contributed eight points.

For Citrus (0-1), Marisa Brown led the Owls with 14 points and eight rebounds.

Rio Hondo returns to the court at Mt. SAC on Saturday (Nov. 5) when the Roadrunners face Long Beach City College in a 5 p.m. tournament semifinal game.