Women's basketball win streak snapped

MONTEREY PARK, CA — In a battle of two South Region ranked teams, the No. 6 East Los Angeles College women’s basketball team lost to No. 2 Mt. San Antonio College 82-72.

ELAC’s six-game consecutive win streak ended and the Huskies fell to 16-6 overall and 0-1 in the South Coast Conference North Division. Mt. SAC (21-1, 2-0) takes over sole possession of first place in the SCC North.

The contest began close and had two lead changes and one tie by the end of first quarter. Mt. SAC led 21-17. ELAC kept it close three minutes into the second quarter.

ELAC freshman guard Breanne Cheatum (Canyon Springs HS) drove through the paint and scored on a layup followed by a three-point freshman forward Kimberly Peraza (Downy HS) swish to pull the Huskies within two points.

This ELAC 5-0 run made the score 28-26 in favor of Mt. SAC. The Mounties responded with a 10-5 run then closed out the first half with a 42-31 lead.

The Mounties increased their double-digit lead and led 67-48 with 2:08 remaining in the third quarter. Mt. SAC kept its big lead until the Huskies closed out with a 12-1 run in the final 3 1/2 minutes to lose by 10.

The difference in the game was great offense from Mt. SAC and missed defensive opportunities from ELAC.

“We lost the game on defense and we didn’t shoot well. We will work on these problems in practice,” said ELAC freshman center Anastasia Tsybaeva (Burbank HS) who had two blocked shots.

ELAC connected on only 23-of-84 two-point baskets while Mt. SAC hit 34-of-55 shots. The Huskies shot 27.4 percent to the Mounties’ 61.8 percent.

The Husky defense had no answers for Mt. SAC sophomore guard Gina Henderson who scored a game-high 23 points. Henderson seemed to score at will in the paint with quick moves and spins under the Mountie offensive glass.

Henderson also scored Mt. SAC’s only 3-point shots. She was 2-for-2 from beyond the arc.

Three ELAC starters scored in double-figures. Alissa Gomez (Roosevelt HS) scored 15 points and led the Huskies in scoring.

Sophomore guard Yasmine Tweedy (Chesterfield, Virginia Manchester HS) scored 12 points and Cheatum had 10 points.

ELAC freshman guard Kamara Smith (Carson HS) came off the bench and scored 13 points including three 3-point shots.

In other SCC North Division action, Pasadena City College (12-10, 1-1) defeated El Camino-Compton Center 75-38. Los Angeles Trade Tech College (9-10, 1-0) lost a non-conference game to No. 3 Long Beach City College (17-4), 60-55.

ELAC travels to Pasadena to meet the Lancers at 5 p.m. in the first game of a double header on Wednesday, Jan. 27. The states No. 6 ELAC men’s team (18-2, 1-0) meets Pasadena (4-16, 0-2) after the women’s game at 7 p.m.

story submitted by Tadzio Garcia