Sophomore forward Talia Rayford (pictured) posted a triple-double with 13 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists to help lead the No. 13 state-ranked Long Beach City College women's basketball team to an 80-67 win over visiting West Los Angeles College on Tuesday at the Hall of Champions Gym.
The non-conference victory improved LBCC to 2-0 this season. Long Beach was tested early and finally put together a scoring run to pull away for good late in the first half.
West LA led 18-15 after a Jade Neal layup and was up by one 20-19 after a pair of free throws by Cheyenne Bonam at the 8:22 mark.
From that point, it was all Long Beach as the Vikings put together a 7-0 run to retake the lead. Freshman Janissa Zagal came off the bench and nailed a three-pointer to get it started followed by a pair of baskets by sophomore Kaaron King to put LBCC ahead 26-20.
West LA's Shandrea Fortune broke the run with a layup, but the Vikings continued to pour it on and went on to outscore the Wildcats 14-4. Zagal scored seven of Long Beach's next 10 points and the Vikings held a commanding 36-24 advantage with 4:46 left in the first half.
In the second half, Long Beach pounded the ball inside. The Vikings scored 26 of their 42 points in the paint during the second. Radford and freshman Shakeena Benton took over for LBCC over the final 20 minutes. Radford had just three points at the break before making 4 of 4 field goals the rest of the way while Benton scored 11 of her game-high 21 points in the second.
King led the Vikings off the bench with 12 points and added six rebounds. Freshman Destin Romain had 10 points while freshman Regina Romain added eight rebounds.
Bonam led West LA (1-1) with 20 points and nine rebounds while Ashlie Bruner had 14 points, four assists, and four steals.
Long Beach returns to action on November 29 when the Vikings will compete at the three-day Santa Anan College tournament. LBCC won't play at home again until December 19 against Pasadena City College.
