No. 3 Lady Huskies beat No. 12 Pasadena 58-45
PASADENA, CA — No. 3 state-ranked (CCCSIA Poll) East Los Angeles College won a big South Coast Conference North Division hurdle in defeating No. 12 Pasadena City College 58-45.
With the win, the Huskies, 21-2 overall and 4-1 in the SCC North, set up a conference showdown at Mt. San Antonio College (24-1, 5-0) on Friday, Feb. 3 at 7 p.m.
If the Huskies win, they will move into a tie with No. 1 Mt. SAC for the conference lead with four games left.
At Pasadena, the first period was a defensive battle. Presses on both sides resulted in poor shooting for both teams. ELAC shot 16.7 percent (3-of-18) to Pasadena’s 21.1 (4-of-19). Pasadena grabbed 15 rebounds to ELAC’s 11 in this period.
The Huskies opened with a 6-1 run. Sophomore center Anastasia Tsybaeva (Burbank HS) scored the first four points of the game, the first, a tip-in from a missed freshman guard Farrah Castillo (Rowland HS) layup.
Tsybaeva made it 4-0 with a jump shot (assist Castillo) at the 5:21 mark. ELAC sophomore Wuanyei Ah-Hing (West Auckland, New Zealand / Massey HS) made a layup with 2:53 minutes left in the period for a 6-1 Husky lead.
Pasadena outscored ELAC 8-1 in the final 2:17 of the period to lead 9-7 after one frame. Only two Huskies scored in the first period.
ELAC opened the second period with a 10-2 run from more communication and passing. Seven Huskies scored in the second quarter, including 10 points from the bench.
Sophomore center Gloria Ortiz (Roosevelt HS), assist from Garcia, made a layup 20 seconds into the period to tie the score 9-9. Tsybaeva made a jump shot that gave ELAC a 19-11 lead with 6:13 left in the half.
ELAC took 25-20 lead into the locker room after a 14-1 Pasadena run.
Sophomore guard Tiffani Martinez (Montebello HS) made a 3-point jump shot from beyond the arc at third quarter buzzer, assist by sophomore guard Allissa Gomez (Roosevelt HS). ELAC had its largest lead, 45-35, entering the final period.
The Huskies kept a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game. Tsybaeva made a layup, assist by sophomore guard Ibeka Allen (Gardena HS), with 3:38 left in the game, to give ELAC a 57-37 lead, its largest.
ELAC outscored Pasadena 23-3 from points off turnovers and 28-7 from the bench, Martinez scored a team-high 13 points; Ortiz scored 9 points and had a team-high 10 rebounds and freshman guard Monica Garcia (Garfield HS) scored 12.
The Huskies had six blocked shots against the taller Lancers, two from Tsybaeva and one each from Ortiz, Martinez, Garcia and sophomore guard Bianca Ortiz (Montebello HS).
The Big Game at Mt. SAC on Friday is located at 1100 N. Grand Ave., Walnut, CA 91789.
story submitted by Tadzio Garcia