Lady Huskies handle rally, win 74-67
MONTEREY PARK, CA — The East Los Angeles College women’s basketball team held back a furious El Camino College rally and defeated the Warriors 74-67 in a non-conference divisional crossover game.
Sophomore forward Jasmine Gates (Gahr High School) hit a jump shot in the paint, beating the end-of-the-third-quarter buzzer to the delight of the home crowd, to put the Huskies up 56-41.
Forty seconds into the fourth quarter, ELAC freshman guard Breanne Cheatum (Canyon Springs HS) stole the ball at mid-court, ran the ball through the paint and scored on a layup that gave the Huskies their biggest lead, 58-41.
With the Huskies coasting, freshman guard Tiffani Martinez (Montebello HS) swished a three-point shot with 6:19 remaining in the game, to give ELAC a 64-48 lead.
El Camino put together a rally and pulled within five points, down 69-64 with 50.7 seconds left in the game. The Warriors’ 13-5 run included four three-point shots.
El Camino freshman guard Meghan Peneueta connected on her fourth three-pointer and the Warriors got closer, down 71-67 with 17.4 seconds left.
The Huskies calmly connected on 3-of-4 free throws to win the game by seven.
“We played our game on offense, but let it slip away from us,” said Gates. “Our defense executed down the stretch and won the game.”
The teams battled close to open the game and ELAC led 8-6 at the 5:50 mark of the first quarter. “We needed to come out stronger and put the game away from the start,” said ELAC sophomore forward Saray Rivera.
ELAC scored a 19-9 run and led 25-15 at the end of the first quarter. El Camino outscored ELAC 16-11 in the second quarter and the Huskies led at the half, 36-31.
Three Huskies scored in double figures. Martinez scored 15 points off five three-point shots, sophomore guard Yasmine Tweedy (Chesterfield, VA Manchester HS) and freshman guard Alissa Gomez (Roosevelt HS) each scored 11 points.
Gomez had eight assists, 15 total in the last two games. Gomez and Tweedy lead the Huskies in assists, each with 3.7 per game.
Cheatum, Tweedy and freshman guard Kamara Smith (Carson HS) each had three steals for the ELAC. Freshman forward Gabrielle Lopez (Montebello HS) had a team-high nine rebounds for the Huskies with four off the offensive boards.
Peneueta led all scorers with 22 points for the Warriors.
No. 6 (CCCAA South Region Poll) ELAC, 15-5 overall, plays its final non-conference divisional crossover game on Wednesday when they host No. 10 Cerritos College (14-7) at 5 p.m. Cerritos overwhelmed Pasadena City College today, 67-40.
ELAC opens South Coast Conference North Division play on Friday with its first showdown with No. 2 Mt. San Antonio College also in the South Gym at 5 p.m.
story submitted by Tadzio Garcia