Third Seeded ELAC Women’s Basketball Team To Play Cypress in SoCal Playoffs Saturday at Home

The East Los Angeles College women’s basketball team will begin its quest to win a state title Saturday, when the Huskies play Cypress in a California Community College Athletic Association Southern California quarterfinal at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at ELAC.

ELAC, which finished regular season play with an excellent 25-6 record, earned the regional’s third seed and a first-round bye. No. 14 seed Cypress (20-9) defeated Imperial Valley, 73-50 Wednesday in the first round.

Saturday’s game will be a rematch between the Huskies and Chargers, who beat ELAC, 77-72 to snap a nine-game winning streak by the Huskies when the teams met nearly three months ago in the Cypress Tournament.

“We tried to do much and made too many turnovers that day,” ELAC Coach Bruce Turner said in recalling the Dec. 1 meeting. “We made a push too late and we fell short.”

He added that the Huskies are looking forward to playing Cypress again.

“It’s a good opportunity for us,” Turner said. “I think we’ve grown and matured a lot as a team, and we’ve always come back strong after a loss.”

ELAC is coming off a disappointing loss to L.A. Trade Tech, which beat the Huskies, 83-73 last Friday to win the South Coast Conference North Division championship in ELAC’s gym.

The Huskies were their own worst enemy that night as they committed 26 turnovers and missed many short-range shots.

“You’re not going to win games when you make 26 turnovers and miss 13 shots from six feet or less from the basket,” Turner said. “Trade Tech is a tough team with only four losses and you have to play your A-game to beat a team like that.”

Trade Tech (26-4 and 9-1 in conference) received the second seed in the playoff brackets. ELAC, which finished 8-2 in conference, handed top seed Moorpark its only loss of the season.

The Huskies were led by guards Jennifer Pool and Jaelynn Curley with 17 points each in the loss to Trade Tech. Pool, a sophomore from Legacy High School, had five assists and Curley, a sophomore Ganado High School in Arizona, had six rebounds.

Guard Dominique Godbolt (Fairfax HS) scored 15 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, and added three assists. Guard Adriana Gonzalez (St. Paul HS) scored 11 points and had four rebounds and three assists. Jadis Watson (Lancaster HS) had 10 rebounds and blocked four shots to go with her six points.

Story and Photo by Mario Villegas