Defense Keys 2nd Half Turnaround for First Home Win of Season.

by Cerwin D Haynes

(photos by La Anh San Nham)

East LA women's basketball got a earlier than expected break from their usually road-heavy early season schedule when the Huskies were offered an opportunity to reschedule a postponed game from last week's Lady Charger Classic. They ended up hosting the Condors of Oxnard College tonight, the team they did not get a chance to play last week down in Cypress. Trailing by eight at halftime, ELAC (2-8) finally began exerting the defensive pressure the program is known for, outscoring the Condors (2-5) by 20 in the second half en route to a 69-57 win. Freshman Gabrielle Quintana led all scorers with 26 points while adding six steals, five rebounds and three assists.

The first quarter saw Oxnard start the game well offensively, hitting 7-13 shots while ELAC struggled, shooting 3-16 (all three makes were from behind the arc). The Condors were able to get into the paint for close-range shots while the Huskies seemed content to shoot from the perimeter. East LA began to steady themselves some in the second quarter, making a concerted effort to chase down their own misses (seven offensive rebounds in the quarter) to give themselves more possessions. Oxnard seemed to have a response by continuing to go inside - soph F Malaykah Lumas was perfect in the quarter, hitting all four of her shots along with two and-1s. Huskies trailed 32-24 at the half.

The lightbulb turned on for the home Green in the third quarter, as East LA finally got back to playing the signature attacking defense head coach Bruce Turner's squad is known for. They pressured Oxnard's perimeter ballhandlers, breaking the Condors' offensive rhythm to the tune of 10 steals while forcing 13 Condor turnovers in the period. ELAC enjoyed a 24-10 advantage on shots taken in the quarter, hitting 10 while also going 6-8 from the line. Also helping the home Green was Quintana getting into rhythm, scoring 14 of her 26 points in the third while adding four steals. It was a complete blitz - the Huskies would outscore the Condors 28-11 in the frame to take a nine-point lead into the fourth, 52-43.

ELAC would put the game away with a 10-3 scoring spurt over the first five-plus minutes in the fourth, taking a 63-45 lead with 4:58 left.

HUSKY BITS

• ELAC forced Oxnard into 36 turnovers (24 in the second half!) which helped them take a whopping 37 more shots that the visitors.
• Lumas led all scorers at halftime with 14 points, but only scored five the rest of the game. The Huskies' perimeter defense kept the Condors from finding passing lanes down low to their forward in the second half.
• Soph F Isabel Aranjo Gomez came close to a triple-double, tallying 18 points, 12 rebounds (nine offensive) and seven steals.
• The Okawas - including retired ELAC event planner Susan Okawa - were in attendance tonight. ELAC's annual post-holiday tournament, the Okawa Classic, is named after her due to her longtime support of Huskies' Athletics. The Classic will be held from Dec 28-30 later this month.

UP NEXT:

The Huskies will make their annual trip up north to the Bay next week to play in the CCSF Golden Gate Classic. They'll play the host Rams on December 15th.

BONUS CLIP: Postgame comments from Coach Turner