No. 10 Lady Huskies Upset in Overtime to Unranked Pasadena
PASADENA, CA — The Lady Huskies basketball team rallied from an 18-point deficit only to lose 73-69 in overtime to Pasadena City College and saw their conference lead go right along with it.
The second upset loss in three games for No. 10-ranked East Los Angeles College turned a three-team SCC North Division title race into a four-team fight.
No. 12 Los Angeles Trade Tech College (18-6, 5-1) sits alone in first place. Three teams are now tied for second place, ELAC (16-8, 4-2), Pasadena (16-10, 4-2) and No. 9 Mt. San Antonio College (20-6, 4-2).
The SCC North is one of the two toughest conferences in the state along with the Central Valley of the Fresno Area. They are the only conferences with three ranked teams in the CCCSIA Top-20 State Poll.
ELAC hosts Mt. SAC on Wednesday, Feb. 7 at 5 p.m. with the conference title on the line. The loser is all but eliminated from the race, though not mathematically. Pasadena hosts Trade Tech, same date, same time.
Against Pasadena, the Lady Huskies rallied from a 53-35 deficit with 6:58 left in the game with a 24-6 run to send it to an extra period. “We came back, but ran out of gas in overtime,” said ELAC Head Coach Bruce Turner. “We still have a title to win and look forward to a playing Mt. SAC on Wednesday.”
This is the fourth straight year that the two teams meet in the second round of SCC play with the title on the line. The ELAC squad will have to handle a bout of adversity from a loss that gave Pasadena 20-year Head Coach Joe Peron his 500th win.
ELAC opened the game with a 15-5 lead with a minute left in the first quarter. A minute into the second quarter, ELAC pushed to its biggest lead, 19-8. The Lancers then controlled play with a 17-5 run and led 25-24 at the half.
The third quarter began with a Pasadena 4-0 run for a 29-24 lead a minute into the frame. The Lady Huskies tallied six-straight points and led 30-29 with 6:11 left in the quarter when sophomore guard Destinee Anaya (Irving, TX / MacArthur High School) made a layup. Pasadena answered with a 14-1 run gave the Lancers a 43-31 lead with 57 seconds remaining enroute to ending the third with a 43-35 lead over ELAC.
In overtime, the teams traded baskets twice and were tied 63-63 with 3:15 left. Pasadena tallied eight-straight points and led 71-63 with 1:26 remaining. With little in doubt who would win, ELAC closed the gap to 72-69 with three seconds left.
Sophomore forward Monica Garcia (Garfield HS) led ELAC with a game-high 21 points and finished with eight rebounds. Freshman guard Jennifer Pool (Legacy HS) scored 14 points and finished with a team-high four assists and a game-high four steals.
Two other Lady Huskies scored in double digits, freshman guard Jaelynn Curley (Ganado, AZ / Ganado HS) scored 15 points and had ELAC’s only blocked shot. Freshman forward Dominique Godbolt (Fairfax HS) scored 13 and finished with eight rebounds.
Pasadena’s height advantage led to outscoring ELAC in the paint 52-28 mostly from two Lancers, 6-foot-3 sophomore center Alisa Shinn (Crescenta Valley HS) and 6-foot-2 freshman forward Mercy Odima (Village Christian HS).
Shinn scored 19 points, had 25 rebounds and tallied a game-high four blocked shots. Odima also had a double double with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Sophomore point guard Samaiyah Abdullah scored 17 points for the Lancers.
Follow ELAC Athletics at http://athletics.elac.edu/landing/index or on Facebook at ELAC Huskies Athletics (@elachuskiesathletics).
story submitted by Tadzio Garcia