Tight defense, solid rebounding and good ball movement all came together for the Warriors during the third quarter to the tune of an 18-4 run.

The burst proved to be too much for the visiting L.A. Harbor College Seahawks, as El Camino started off South Coast Conference play with an impressive 73-42 win Wednesday night in the North Gym.

Freshman guard Meghan Peneueta led the team while filling her own stat sheet, scoring 20 points on 8-14 shooting to go with seven steals, six rebounds and five assists.

She attributed her performance to her teammates and also to her coach’s halftime words.

“We were a little rusty in the first half but at halftime coach gave us a good talk and we were able to adjust,” Peneueta said. “The key was to watch the turnovers and play with a little more urgency and we were able to achieve that.”

The Warriors’ defensive urgency showed on the box score, as EC forced 31 Seahawks turnovers, and converted those into 25 points.

Head coach Steve Shaw said it was a better second half for his team, and described the adjustments made at half.

“We made a little bit of an adjustment in our press break, we thought we could’ve attacked their press a little bit,” Shaw said. “We talked about being a little bit more patient on the offensive end and letting our defense create some of our offense, and I thought that happened for us.”

The offense would come around, and four players finished in double figures.

Sophomore guard Kyla Jolly was the second leading scorer for EC with 19 points, while Freshman Forward Elise Allison recorded a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

The win brings the Warriors’ record to 10-10 overall, and they are now 1-0 in SCC-south division play.

Coach Shaw referred to conference play as a battle, and looked forward to the team’s upcoming competition.

“Our conference is so tough so every day you’ve gotta come out to play,” Shaw said. “The top two teams would be Long Beach and Cerritos, that being said we can’t afford to look past L.A. Southwest on Friday night either.”

The Warriors will travel to play the Cougars on Friday, while the next home game will be Wednesday, Jan. 27 against Long Beach. All games start at 5 p.m.