Glendora, CA (Women’s Basketball) -- With expectations running high for this year’s Citrus College women’s basketball team (thanks to five returning sophomores who all started last season), the Lady Owls got off on the wrong foot in their season opener on Saturday night as they lost to visiting LA City College 41-50. Citrus shot just 26.2% from the floor and 16.7% from beyond the 3-point arc, proving to be the Lady Owls’ downfall in the opener.
Both teams struggled to get things going offensively to open the game. It took over eight minutes for one team to reach the double-digit point mark, as both teams combined to miss 54 shots in the first half alone.Despite the opening game jitters for both squads, Citrus would eventually grab hold of the first half, leading by as much as seven points with just over eight minutes to play in the first half.
Hanging on to their lead by a thread, the Lady Owls would trade baskets with LA City over the next six minutes, until the Cubs cut Citrus’ lead to one point after a trey by Kimberly Valenzuela. Citrus answered with a free-throw from Caitlyn Hernandez that pushed their lead back to two points, as the Lady Owls went into the half with a slim 20-18 lead.
Citrus would come out the half, with a defensive stop and fast break lay-up by freshman Krystyn Jacobs that pushed their lead to four points, but LA City answered with a mini 7-0 run that briefly gave the Cubs the lead after a jumper by Jessica Torres that made the score 25-22 in favor of City.
The Lady Owls would respond with a jumper by sophomore Jessica Nieves and 3-pointer thanks to sophomore Jazmine Matthews, but LA City kept their cool, scoring the next four points and grabbing the lead for good. Citrus would keep it close, until the closing minutes when the Cubs hit all their free-throws down the stretch securing their nine point victory.
In the loss Citrus was led by Matthews who scored a team high 13 points and recorded a team high 10 rebounds. Sophomore Shateah West was the only other Lady Owl to finish with a double-digit scoring night, as she poured in 11 points on four of nine shooting from the floor.
With the loss Citrus falls to 0-1, while LA City improves to 1-0. The Lady Owls will try and regroup this coming Wednesday, as Citrus travels to Oxnard College for a pre-conference match-up with the Condors. Tip-off is set for 7:00 PM.
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