Glendora, CA (Women’s Basketball) – Since the season began the Citrus College Women’s Basketball team has struggled to get themselves off the ground and running playing all 12 games on the road, and playing one of the toughest schedules around as they squared off against 3 state top sixteen teams in 4 of those 12 games.
In the Lady Owl’s home opener Wednesday night, the Lady Owl’s got their 2nd win of the season in a 55-49 victory over East Los Angeles College.
“The girls have been playing hard all along,” said Head Coach Eric Anderson. “This was just one game where they believed in themselves and came together as a team.”
Citrus led buzzer to buzzer, and were paced by sophomore JaTon Parham who recorded a double-double with a team high 19 points and 14 boards. The Owl’s defense and offense proved to be superior in the 1st half as they shot 42.3% from the floor while holding the Huskies to 16.2% on 6 of 37 shooting from the floor. Going into half-time the Lady Owl’s had a sizeable 32-14 lead.
The 2nd half wore on the Lady Owl’s, and the Huskies came charging back. With the Lady Owl’s holding a 12-point lead after a Stacy Antonio lay-up with 9:47 left to go in the game, the Huskies made their move. The Lady Owl’s wouldn’t score for over 4 minutes and saw their lead dwindle to 5. On the ensuing possession Antonio would draw a foul and bury both of her free throws breaking the Owl drought and pushing the lead back up to 7.
The Huskies would make one more push cutting the lead to only 3 points after Bianca De La Cruz nailed a 3-pointer with 55 seconds left. The Lady Owl’s didn’t panic however, and hit 3 of their 4 free throw shots down the stretch finishing the game with a 55-49 win.
"I’m really happy for the girls because even though we are short in numbers, they never give up,” Anderson said. “We are just going to stay positive with them, and keep going from there.”
In the win Shatonn Harris led all rebounders pulling down a team and game high 16 boards, while dishing out 3 assists and grabbing 3 steals. Jenny Sirk chipped in with 15 points, while Ashley Buchanan played tough for the Lady Owl’s scoring 8 points and grabbing 9 boards.
With the win the Lady Owl’s improve to 2-11. The Lady Owl’s will hit the road once again as they travel to face off against Imperial Valley College on Saturday. Tip-off starts at 3:00 pm.
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