City College’s women’s basketball team heads into the 2012 off-season without a post-season berth for the first time in six years.

Making the playoffs has been the norm at City College for the past decade. Head coach Sandrine Krul’s motto MTXE (Mental Toughness Extra Effort) has been the foundation of a successful stint of Vaquero women’s basketball.

The six-year streak came to a close this season despite a solid 5-2 run in conference play that included a last-second win over Cuesta (Feb. 15) and a 15-point victory over L.A. Pierce (Feb. 18). The Vaqueros eventually clinched third place in the Western State North Division but narrowly missed post season play.

“There were high hopes heading into this season. No one wanted to be the team that didn’t make the playoffs,” said Leslie Steele, first-team All-WSC sophomore guard. “But we grew a lot mentally and physically. I don’t think anyone on this team will forget this season.”

City College went 12 games before winning back-to-back contests at one point this season, a stat that Krul says was indicative of their young team.

“We had to do a lot of re-teaching this year,” Krul said. “Between that and the injuries it was difficult to have continuity, but nobody quit and we played hard every game. All things considered, this was definitely a successful season.”

One memorable moment came in the final 30 seconds of the Feb. 15 match-up against Cuesta. Sophomore guard JJ Jimenez (first-team All-WSC) turned the ball over, which led to a Cuesta score. The next possession saw Jimenez head to the free-throw line to hit two game-tying free throws. On the next play, freshman Keia Nobles stole the Cuesta inbound pass, got fouled, and sunk the game-winning free throw with nine seconds left in the game.

“I feel like that definitely defined us this year,” Steele said. “We took a lot of blows but we just kept fighting.”

“We definitely struggled a lot this year but to finish third in conference and winning our last two games shows how mentally tough this team is,” sophomore Jasmine Johnson said. “Our coach preaches mental toughness and when we finally caught on it showed on the court. MTXE is definitely something to live by.”

Three Vaquero sophomores made first-team All-Conference including Jimenez, Steele and forward Mercedes Gonzalez.

The three standout sophomores are preparing for a sophomore showcase on Saturday at American River College in Sacramento. The showcase gives them a chance to perform against good competition in front coaches and recruiters.

As for next years’ squad, there are nine returning players including standout freshman forward Elia Salazar who scored 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the team’s final game of the season.