The El Camino College Warriors made just four field goals in the second half and it proved to be their undoing as they fell 76-43 against Long Beach City College in a South Coast Conference game Friday at the El Camino College North Gym.

The Warriors (4-10, 1-5) trailed the Vikings (14-2, 4-1) 32-27 at halftime and were shooting 42.3% at the break, but they came out in the second half and were outscored 29-1 in the opening 12 minutes of the period by the No. 7 team in the state.

The Warriors scored their first point of the half on a free throw from Clarizzah Macatugal 5:34 into the period. The team missed its first 18 shots of the half, getting their first field goal from Macatugal on a baseline jumper with 7:42 left in the game.

The Warriors finished the half shooting 4-for-29 from the field thanks to stellar defense from the Vikings.

Freshman Shakeena Benton led the way for the Vikings with 19 points on 7-for-12 shooting. Freshman Jasmine Williams pitched in with 12 points and sophomore Talia Rayford recorded a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds to go along with three blocked shots.

The Vikings outrebounded the Warriors 48-37 on the night and capitalized on their opponents mistakes all night. They scored 17 points off 15 Warriors turnovers and were excellent in transition, scoring a 14-0 shutout in fast break points.

The Vikings led most of the way but the Warriors did manage to catch them in the first half. Kaitlyn Kung hit one of her 3-pointers to tie the score 21-21 with 5:50 left in the period. The Warriors had a chance to take the lead after forcing a Vikings miss, but they turned the ball over and a Rayford free throw and Benton 3-pointer put the Vikings back on top for good.

Long Beach returns to action on Wednesday (Jan. 16) when it hosts L.A. Southwest College in a 7 p.m. SCC game.

Recap courtesy El Camino College Sports Information / Photo by John Fajardo