El Camino College women’s basketball team is still looking for its first win of the season after dropping their fifth game to the Irvine Valley Lasers on Tuesday, Nov. 21.
To start the game, both teams came out with a competitive edge that set them neck and neck.
The Warriors were swinging the ball around the court, but couldn’t get past the smooth defensive rotations the Lasers were making.
The Warriors found a rhythm by driving hard to the paint, earning themselves four trips to the free throw line and converting on all eight free throws taken.
“I feel like [getting to the free throw line] is a goal,” Warriors forward Imani Taitt-Gibbs said. “If we can do anything to make sure the game is in our hands, I feel like that’s the best bet.”
On the opposing side, the Lasers shot 7-16 from the field in the first quarter, including three three-point shot attempts.
After the last buzzer sounded off in the first, the score was 18-14 in favor of the Lasers as they headed into the second quarter.
“The first quarter of basketball was probably the best we’ve played all year,” Warriors coach Steve Shaw said. “We made them call two timeouts and made them go to their adjustments.”
The Lasers came out in the second quarter with those new adjustments and started to play press defense against the Warriors, causing them to turn the ball over 41 times in the game.
The press defense from the Lasers allowed them to score 29 first-half points off Warriors turnovers, giving them a 42-22 lead heading into the second half.
The third quarter was straight dominance from the Lasers, outscoring the Warriors 31-7 in those 10 minutes.
Turnovers were a huge part of this deficit, as the Warriors turned the ball over 14 times in the third quarter alone.
“I would say [the biggest factor in this loss] was the turnovers,” Warriors guard Harmony Warren said. “We do have to work on that in games going forward [in order to] decrease the amount.”
Lasers guards Emily Freeman and Aryana Cortes were also both key contributors when Irvine Valley started to pull away.
Freeman had a game-high 20 points with five three-pointers made, while Cortes had 14 points and two steals, shooting 4-4 from the three-point land.
After falling behind 73-29 going into the final quarter, the Warriors didn’t have enough gas in the tank to claw their way back into the game.
They did manage to hold the Lasers to only 12 points in the fourth as the game ended with an 85-37 score in favor of Irvine Valley.
The Warriors were able to clean up the glass after missed shot attempts by out-rebounding the Lasers 33-22, with Taitt-Gibbs grabbing 12 rebounds.
Warriors guard Teena Ponce led the team in points with 12, and Warren was able to dish out three of the Warrior’s six assists on the night.
The Warriors now have 10 days until their next matchup in the Lady Charger Classic, a tournament hosted by Cypress College.
“Part of [those ten days] is going to be a little bit of physical and mental recovery,” Shaw said. “Enjoy family and the holidays, then we’ll come back and keep working on putting new things into our system.”
