Santa Monica, CA (Women’s Basketball) – The Citrus College women’s basketball team suffered a set-back Wednesday night in their bid for a Southern California playoff berth, as they lost at Santa Monica 52-69. The Corsairs led wire to wire, as the Lady Owls shot just 31.1% from the field, their second worst shooting performance of the year.
Citrus would keep the game close for the first six minutes of the game trailing by just three points after jumper by Jazmine Matthews in the lane made the score 9-12 with 13:26 left to go in the first half. With that, Santa Monica jumped all over Citrus with an 8-0 run, that culminated in an 11-point lead for the Corsairs after back to back three’s and lay-up in the paint by Santa Monica’s Dakiya Covington.
Despite trailing by as much as 9 points with just under seven minutes to play in the first half, the Lady Owls battled back. Citrus scored 8 unanswered points, and pulled to within a point of the SMC lead after a 3-pointer from Shaton Harris. Santa Monica would score the final four points of the half however, and take a four point 31-26 lead into half-time.
In the second half, the Lady Owls fell apart, as Santa Monica opened the half with a 15-5 run. Citrus would close the gap to eight points with 11:47 left to play, but Santa Monica quickly answered with back to back jumpers. From that point on, Santa Monica’s lead never fell below double-digits, as the Lady Owls lost by 17.
In the win Santa Monica had four players with double-digit scoring nights, while Citrus had just two. Terri Washington led all Lady Owls with 18 points, while Shateah West finished one points shy of a double-double with 9 points and a team high 10 rebounds.
With the loss, Citrus drops to 18-11 overall and 5-5 in WSC South play. The Lady Owls will be back on the road this weekend as it travels to Glendale for a 5:30 PM tip-off.
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