Glendora, CA (Women’s Basketball) -- The Citrus College Lady Owls got a pair of double-doubles from sophomores Shateah West (21 points, 12 rebounds) and Jazmine Matthews (11 points, 10 assists), and after toiling against her in the first half, shut-down West LA’s Shannon Austin in the second (21 points, 10 rebounds in the 1st; 7 points, 4 rebounds in the 2nd), as they picked up their first conference victory of the season, 86-74.
West LA would start things off out of the gate, grabbing an early five point lead after a jumper by Shannon Austin. Citrus would quickly, rally however, getting a jumper by West off a Matthews assist, that gave Citrus their first lead with 15:34 to go.
From there both teams would take turns taking control of the game, as West LA grabbed a four-point lead at the 10 minute mark, with the Lady Owls taking a five-point lead for themselves just two minutes later around the 8 minute mark.
Three more minutes later, West LA took back the lead for good in the first half, when a pair of Austin free-throws gave the Wildcats a 2-point margin with just over six minutes to play.
Citrus would tie the game up once more (the 5th tie of the half), but West LA would go into the break with a 3-point lead, thanks in large part to a buzzer beating jumper by Austin, that gave the Wildcats a 39-36 advantage.
In the second half, West LA would pick up right where they left off, jumping out to an 8-point lead after a trey by CeeCee Jeffries made the score 52-44 with 16:02 showing on the clock.
With that, the Lady Owls began to battle, tying the game up two minutes later, when sophomore Terri Washington stole the ball from West LA a drove the length of the court hitting a fast-break jumper that made the score 53-53.
Both teams would trade buckets over the next four minutes, with the Lady Owls finally ripping the lead from West LA with an 8-2 run book-ended by a 3-point play from Jessica Nieves, that gave Citrus a 66-60 lead with nine minutes to go.
The Wildcats would scratch their way back to within 2-points of the Citrus lead with 5:45 left on the clock, but that’s when the Lady Owls took over. Citrus would score 16 straight unanswered points taking a commanding 84-68 lead with just under two minutes to play, sealing their first conference victory of the season.
In the win, Citrus was paced by West’s team high 21 points and 12 rebounds (her 6th double-double of the season). Sophomore’s Terri Washington and Jessica Nieves would also pour in double-digit points, with 20 and 21 respectively, while Matthews 10 dimes, matched a season high for her.
For West LA, Austin led the way with a game high 28 points and 14 rebounds, in a losing effort. Joining her with a solid box-score was Keisha Irvin, who scored 18 points, grabbed 8 rebounds, and dished out 4 assists.
With the victory, Citrus improves to 15-7 overall and 1-1 in WSC South division play, while West LA falls to 9-8 overall and 1-1 in conference play. The Lady Owls will be back home this coming Wednesday when they play host to LA Valley College (4-13). Tip-off is set for 7:00 PM.
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