No. 1 Lady Huskies defeat No. 13 Long Beach 84-52

TORRANCE, ca — Three statewide-ranked South Coast Conference North Division teams’ defeated three SCC South Division teams in a triple header at El Camino College. No. 1 East Los Angeles College improved to 17-1 with an 84-52 win, in the tournament style setting, against No. 13-South Region-ranked Long Beach City College (9-10).

No. 3 Mt. San Antonio College (19-1) defeated Cerritos College (5-13) 88-45. No. 11 Pasadena City College (16-3) survived a scare from upstart El Camino (6-9) with a 70-69 win.

Long Beach opened with an 11-2 lead against ELAC when sophomore center Miranda Martinez (assisted by freshman guard Janay Wellington) made a 3-point jump shot with 5:05 left in the first period.

The Huskies responded with a second period rally and took a 38-33 lead when freshman guard Farrah Castillo (Rowland HS) connected on a 3-point swish at the buzzer, assisted by freshman guard Monica Garcia (Garfield HS).

ELAC outscored Long Beach 26-6 in the third period with back-to-back 13-3 runs. The Huskies lead by 33 points in the fourth period.

“We got out of the blocks slow, (but) didn’t have our normal lineup. Once we get active that’s when the true Huskies come out,” said ELAC Head Coach Bruce Turner. “We play better coming from behind, for some reason. We almost have to get tired before we play our best.”

ELAC outscored Long Beach 44-2 from the bench. Sophomore center Gloria Ortiz (Roosevelt HS) came off the bench and scored a team-high 17 points for ELAC.

Three more Huskies scored in double figures, sophomore guard Katrina Reeves (Orlando, FL / Dr. Phillips HS) scored 15 points, sophomore center Anastasia Tsybaeva (Burbank HS) and Garcia each scored 10 points.

Tsybaeva had two blocked shots. She averages 2.4 per game, 4th-best in the state.

Two guards had five assists each for ELAC, sophomore Wuanyei Ah-Hing (West Auckland, New Zealand / Massey HS) and freshman Sarah Gurrola (El Rancho HS). Ortiz had five steals.

ELAC outrebounded Long Beach 38-27. Every Husky had rebounds, led by Castillo with six.

Long Beach sophomore guard Vivian Hernandez (Warren HS) scored a game-high 19 points. Teammate freshman guard Alexis Camarena (Banning HS) scored 14 points.

The Huskies end non-conference play with their best start in the school’s 71-year history.

ELAC opens SCC North play on Wednesday, Jan. 18 and hosts Mt. SAC in the second game of a double header at 7 p.m. The No. 8 ELAC men’s basketball team (12-4) plays the Mt. SAC men’s team (10-7) at 5 p.m.

story submitted by Tadzio Garcia