Women's Basketball: Second-half run lifts No. 7 LBCC to win at El Camino

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