An offensive explosion late in the first quarter helped the visiting Long Beach City College Vikings women’s basketball team take a lead.
Even though El Camino came into this game with momentum coming off back-to-back conference victories, the late come back would be to no avail as the visitors would keep the lead.
“(LBCC) is not only one of the better teams in the conference, but in all of the South Bay,” coach Steve Shaw said. “We knew that we had to play good basketball if we were going to win and we weren’t able to do that.”
Size proved to be too much for the Warriors as Long Beach City College dominated the boards and converted second chance points to take control of the game early as EC lost, 61-44.
Both teams struggled offensively in the first half with the Warriors shooting just 27 percent (9-33) and the Vikings making 36 percent (12-33).
Forward Elise Allison led the Warriors with seven points and three rebounds in the first half. EC trailed the Vikings at halftime, 36-21.
“In the first quarter we ended up going on an incredible run and were able to control the tempo,” Vikings coach Michael Anderson said. “We kind of struggled in the second quarter with turnovers but I am very pleased on how we were able to finish the game,”.
El Camino finished the game shooting 26 percent (16-62) from the field and 9-for-12 from the free-throw line after not attempting a single foul shot in the first half. The Vikings shot 29 percent (17-58) and 24-for-34 from the free-throw line.
Sophomore guard Tyler Quinn led the Warriors with 14 points and six rebounds, while Sophomore Kyla Jolly added 12 points and three rebounds.
Freshman guard Meghan Peneueta, who leads the Warriors in scoring this season, struggled scoring and had just two points on 1-for-10 shooting, but finished 10 rebounds and three assists.
“Our team was doing great and we had our moments,” Jolly said. “We need to learn to play better together and run our offense. Honestly we had a chance to beat them but it was a good fight.”
The Warriors (11-11) will travel to Cerritos College (16-8) on Friday for their next conference match-up.
“We need to work on staying consistent,” Shaw said. “We have to work on controlling the ball better and allow fewer turnovers.”
