One of the finest seasons in school history came to a painful end on Wednesday night as the Long Beach City College women's basketball team fell at No. 1 and undefeated Mt. San Antonio College 74-59 in Round 3 of the CCCAA Southern California Regional Playoffs.
No. 8 seeded Long Beach closed the season with a 24-5 overall record. The 24 wins tied a school record.
It was the third meeting of the season between the conference foes with the Mounties coming out on top each time.
On Wednesday, the Vikings got behind early and despite a good second half, couldn't dig themselves out of a huge hole.
Mt. SAC (31-0) was up 9-2 at the 16:39 mark and led by 11 points (16-4) with 12:02 to go in the first half.
Long Beach made just seven field goals in the first half to shoot just 21 percent (7 for 34) and trailed 39-15 at the break.
But the Vikings turned it around in the second half. LBCC outscored Mt. SAC 15-2 to open the second. After a pair of three-pointers by freshman Shakeena Benton (pictured), Long Beach still trailed 41-27 just three minutes into the second.
Long Beach nailed six three-pointers in the second and turned the ball over just two times, but the deficit was just too large to overcome. Another three-pointer by Benton with 4:14 left in the contest got the Vikings within eight points at 57-65, the Mounties responded with back-to-back layups by Ashley Carter and Ashley Burchfield to go back ahead 69-57 and put the game out of reach.
Sophomores Talia Rayford and Kaaron King both posted double-doubles in their final game in a Vikings uniform. Rayford posted 10 points and 13 rebounds to go with seven assists while King had 11 points and 11 boards.
Benton led LBCC with 13 points and freshman Destinn Romain came off the bench to score nine points. Freshman Crystal Cockerhan also had a productive night off the bench with six points, six rebounds, and three blocks.
It was another great season for third-year head coach Michael Anderson and the LBCC women's basketball program. The Vikings improved on their 2011-12 record of 19-7 and moved up a round in the playoffs.
The Vikings will lose four sophomores (Rayford, King, Kyrese Montgomery, and Tiffany Taylor) but should return starters Benton and Jasmine Williams.
Photo by John Fajardo