STOCKTON — A premier matchup of two of Northern California's top-ranked junior college women's basketball teams occurred Friday night at Blanchard gym, and Delta College came away with a benchmark victory against the Sierra Wolverines.

The Mustangs, ranked fourth in the most recent California Community College Athletic Association's NorCal poll, defeated No. 1 Sierra 75-66 in a Big 8 Conference matchup.

Earlier, the Delta men played a hard-fought game but lost to Sierra 72-69.

Brittany Butler scored a game-high 18 points to lead the Delta women, while teammates Noni Kuumba and Jordan Morales scored 11 and 13 points, respectively.

"It was very, very important to get this win," Butler said. "They're the number one team in the north, so to beat them is just the way to get it started.

"We're here to fight, and we're coming every day to play," she added. "We practice hard, our coach works our butts off, and this is the outcome of it."

The Mustangs (14-4, 1-1 Big 8) led 29-28 at halftime, and led 55-51 to begin the final quarter. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Krista Buligon (eight points) increased Delta's lead to 63-51 with just under 8 minutes remaining to cap a 10-0 run.

However, the Wolverines (14-2, 1-1) responded with a 9-4 run to close the gap to 67-60 with 3:43 remaining. The Mustangs kept the pressure on and led 72-62 when Morales made the fourth of her 3-pointers.

Sierra, led by Isa Conde's 15 points, scored just one field goal and two free throws over the final two minutes.

Delta was 7 of 26 from 3-point range, while Sierra was 3-for-23 from beyond the arc.

Delta next plays at American River College on Tuesday.

Sierra 72, Delta 69

Delta's second-half rally came up short as a cold first half of shooting created too big of a deficit for the Mustangs to overcome.

"We should have come out a lot stronger like we normally do," said Delta guard John Berna, whose six 3-pointers led to a team-high 20 points. "In the first half we were being too lenient, and being too passive turning the ball over. We needed to come out with more energy."

The Mustangs (8-7, 1-1) trailed the entire game to Sierra (9-9, 2-0) after a cold night of shooting, including 20 missed shots in the first half alone. By shooting 26 percent from the floor, the Mustangs trailed 32-17 at halftime.

A short jumper by Delta's Christian Allen pulled the Mustangs to within 13-12 with 8:08 left in the opening half, but made just one more field goal as the Wolverines went on a 17-3 to end the half.

Delta's Jovian Cormier, returning from a groin injury, picked up two fouls and no points in limited action in the first half. He finished with 15 points, the same as teammate Darrin Gentry. Eric Toles led Sierra with 20 points.

Delta, which averages 72 points per game, averages less than six 3-pointers made per game, which ranks them 66th among the CCCAA. They were 9 of 25 from 3-point range against Sierra, which countered with 3-for-14 from beyond the arc.