Cockerhan triple-double powers Vikings to 70-54 school-record playoff win over Mt. San Jacinto

Sophomore center Crystal Cockerhan (Poly HS) posted a triple-double with 14 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 blocks to help lead the No. 5 seed Long Beach City College women's basketball team to a 70-54 win over No. 12 Mt. San Jacinto College on Saturday in Round 2 of the CCCAA Southern California Regional Playoffs.

Tonight's victory, Long Beach's 25th of the season, set a new school record. LBCC (25-4) now travels to No. 4 seed and South Coast Conference rival Pasadena City College on Wednesday (Mar 5) for a third-round playoff game. Pasadena was a 77-59 winner over No. 13 College of the Canyons in its second-round contest.

Mt. San Jacinto (23-7) made just 15 of 67 shots in tonight's game while the Vikings put together one of its best games of the season. LBCC jumped out to a quick 6-0 advantage to open the contest and used a 15-3 run midway in the first to extend its lead to 23-7 at the 7:48 mark. Long Beach went into the break leading 36-19 as the Eagles shot 4 for 37.

Cockerhan nearly had the triple-double in the first with six points, eight rebounds and seven blocks. Cockerhan was strong on defense as well as she held Pacific Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Year Cora Lopez to just two points in the first half.

Freshman Darshana Taafua (Western HS) scored a game-high 16 points for LBCC while sophomore Shakeena Benton (Lakewood HS) had 12 points and sophomore Symphony Logan (Jordan HS) added 10 points.

Lopez rebounded in the second half to end the game leading the Eagles with 15 points and eight boards while Erin Stanford added nine points and seven rebounds.

Wednesday marks the third meeting of the season between Long Beach and Pasadena. The Lancers pulled out both wins in overtime, beating LBCC 69-64 on December 6 in Irvine and winning their conference matchup 77-70 on January 31 in Long Beach.