The Chabot women's basketball team continued to show toughness during a challenging nonconference schedule.

The Gladiators (5-7), ranked No. 6 in the NorCal preseason poll, opened last week with a 74-65 win over De Anza on Nov. 30, and then fell to No. 3 SoCal Mt. San Antonio 62-47 to open the power-packed Gilcrest Tournament in Visalia. Chabot then lost to NorCal No. 3 Sequoias 62-47 and L.A. Valley 64-62 playing shorthanded in the Gilcrest tourney.

Kendra Grant paced Chabot with 15 points and nine rebounds against host Sequoias.

"The girls battled and they were in the game the whole way," Chabot coach Mark Anger said of the loss to Sequoias. "Tough place to play."

Chabot and Mt. San Antonio were tied with three minutes to go before Mt. SAC pulled away.

"Tough loss against Mt. SAC … The kids played hard," Anger said.

Against L.A. Valley, Anessa Spradley provided a spark off the bench with a team-high 16 points and eight rebounds. Mikee Lopez had 13 points and nine rebounds and Dede Franklin had 12 points, seven assists and two steals. Reina Phillips pulled down 10 rebounds.

With only seven total players, Chabot led most of the way but was outscored 26-21 in the fourth quarter.

In the win over De Anza, Cassidy Duncan had a big game with 21 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. She was 4 of 8 from 3-point range. Grant also had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds.