No. 11 Lady Huskies Win 69-58 at No. 14 Long Beach

LONG BEACH, CA — In a showdown of state-ranked teams, the No. 11 Lady Huskies women's basketball team defeated No. 14 Long Beach City College 69-58 in a South Coast Conference crossover game.

It was the fourth straight win in four years against Long Beach and moved the East Los Angeles College to 11-6 overall while the Vikings dropped to 12-6.

The Huskies needed to come up with a different game plan to defeat the taller Vikings who defeated No. 6 Mt. San Antonio College on Friday 58-50 in their second win this season against the Mounties in Walnut.

And ELAC did just that. “We were able to stay low and kind of take away their athleticism and we didn’t jump for their fakes, they had to shoot over us,” said ELAC Assistant Coach Sarai Trinidad. “That’s how we overcame their height and they weren’t hitting that night so it worked in our favor.”

ELAC outscored Long Beach 13-4 off second chance points. Key to that was the Lady Huskies outrebounding the Vikings 12-5 off the offensive glass. ELAC outscored Long Beach 12-6 off turnovers.

The Vikings were all over ELAC’s top scorer’s sophomore forward Monica Garcia (Garfield HS) and freshman forward Dominique Godbolt (Fairfax HS) right out the gate. Two ELAC guards took advantage of that and each scored five points in the first quarter, sophomore Destinee Anaya (Irving, TX / MacArthur HS) and freshman Jaelynn Curley (Ganado, AZ / Ganado HS). ELAC led 17-10 at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Long Beach adjusted their defense and held Anaya and Curley scoreless, but Garcia scored 12 points in the frame and ELAC led 30-26 at the break. In the third quarter, Long Beach covered Garcia, even double-teaming her and Curley scored nine points.

In the fourth quarter, ELAC flirted with double-digit leads throughout. Long Beach made two runs, which ELAC ended with 3-point shots by freshman forward Marlee Berry (Polson, MT / Polson HS) and Anaya.

“We’re starting to find a rhythm but mostly on the defensive end,” said ELAC Assistant Coach Sarai Trinidad. “Although we did OK tonight, our transition offense has to get a little better.”

Three Lady Huskies scored in double digits, Garcia scored a game-high 28 points, Anaya and Curley each scored 14 points. Long Beach’s leading scorer, sophomore guard Doylebonet Walker, scored 12 points, which was below her average.

Godbolt had nine rebounds and Garcia finished with eight, six off of the offensive boards.

ELAC begins SCC North play with a home game against Pasadena City College on Wednesday, Jan. 17 with a 5 p.m. tipoff.  

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story submitted by Tadzio Garcia