Glendora, CA (Women’s Basketball) – For the first time since conference play began, the Citrus College women’s basketball team has won back to back games. For the last two months, the Lady Owls have followed up every win with a loss and every loss with a win. That all changed Saturday night, as Citrus knocked off LA Valley 79-72.
With tonight’s contest being the third time these two teams have squared off, the two squads played exactly like they knew each other all to well, with seven lead changes and the score being tied up five times.
Valley proved to be the early aggressor scoring seven of the first nine points in the contest. The Lady Owls quickly answered however, with a jumper by Terri Washington and back to back fast break lay-ups by Washington and Jazmine Matthews that gave Citrus an 8-7 lead. The Monarchs would take the lead back shortly thereafter, but Citrus would tie it up twice, the latter coming with yet another mid-range jumper by Washington that tied the score up 12-12.
With the score all knotted up, the Owls would go on a 15-4 run, culminated by Shateah West burying a shot in the lane to give Citrus an 11-point 27-16 lead. The Lady Owls would continue to build on that lead, leading by as much as 13 points with 2:17 left to play in the first half.
Despite a looming large hole, the Monarchs were resilient, scoring the final 11 points of the first half to come within two points of the Citrus lead. With both teams in the locker-room, the Lady Owls held just a slim 41-39 lead.
The first ten minutes of the second half would pick right up where the first half left off, with both teams trading leads and tying up the game. With Citrus trailing by three points with 11:39 showing on the clock, freshman point guard Jazmine Matthews began to take over.
Matthews scored eight straight points for Citrus, and when she was done, the Lady Owls had turned a two point deficit into a three point lead. Citrus’ lead would grow to as large as seven points late in the second half, but Valley would just not go away.
The Monarchs would get to within two points with 1:58 left in the game after a fast break lay-up by La’Day Venson. Citrus would capitalize on missed shots though, and six of the final seven points scored in the last minute and half to pick up their fifth conference victory of the season.
For Citrus, Matthews would finish the game with a game high 20 points on 8 of 12 shooting from the floor, while Shateah West added 18 points and a team high 7 rebounds. Terri Washington also continued her recent hot scoring streak, by adding 13 points and game high 7 assists.
With the win Citrus improves to 18-10 overall and 5-4 in WSC South play. The Lady Owls will hit the road on Wednesday for the second meeting of the year with Santa Monica College. Citrus took the two teams first meeting, 72-58. Tip-off is set for 5:30 PM.
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