Huskies End Losing Skid by Grounding the Falcons

by Cerwin D Haynes

(thumbnail by Henry Caceres)

With 12 days off following the Okawa Classic, East LA College women's basketball had the opportunity to get in some good rest and practice time - a much needed break from one of the toughest schedules in the state. The Cerritos College Falcons, tonight's opponent, aren't among one of the Huskies' tougher opponents. Yet the game served as a good barometer for ELAC on how well they can perform given the time off they enjoyed.

The Pack (6-12) dominated from the opening tip. They led 20-4 after the first quarter and never looked back, thoroughly beating the Falcons (4-12) 77-38. The win snapped their nine-game losing streak at the team looks to course-correct before conference play begins in two weeks.

Speaking of course-correction, Huskies' leading scorer Lupe Vazquez got back to her scorching ways by leading all scorers with 29 points, including a sizzling 7-10 from three-point land. The Salvadorean sophomore wing had been battling various ailments that affected her play in the last month, reflected in a nine point dip in her scoring average for December. But what got the home Green (who literally wore green tonight as the home team) going in the early period was their defense, forcing Cerritos to shoot 2-13 from the field. The Falcons never recovered: they shot 27.4% from the field for the game, as the Huskies used their size advantage down low to alter shots and gobble up rebounds (53-35 advantage). To wit: freshman starting F/C Makaia Smith had 14 points, nine rebounds and two blocks while fellow freshman big Asiah Harris had 13 points and 11 boards off the bench.

HUSKY BITS

• One area of recent struggle for the Huskies has been their passing. But tonight, they recorded 17 assists on 31 made baskets. Sophomore F Sasha Capers had a team-high four assists (along with four points, nine rebounds, a steal and a block).
• Getting Vazquez back to her normal shooting form powered their outside shooting. But they'll need more than just one person taking and making threes. Freshman G Melanye Ramirez shot 2-4 from deep (3-6 FGs overall) en route to nine points. She also grabbed five offensive rebounds.

UP NEXT:

Usually, this is a straightforward answer. But ELAC has received word that El Camino College, their scheduled opponent on Friday, has cancelled the game due to roster issues. As of this writing, it is unconfirmed whether the program has cancelled the rest of their season as the last game they played was on December 9. Should head coach Bruce Turner be unable to find a replacement opponent, East LA's next game will be a week from today at Long Beach City College, 7pm.