The Long Beach City College women's basketball team competed at a high level this past weekend in the Irvine Valley College Tournament. The Vikings reached the championship contest after defeating the Orange Coast Pirates, 64-53, in the semifinal matchup. However, they stumbled to the El Camino College Warriors in the championship game by a final mark of 42-55.
In the semifinal game, a low scoring affair ensued early with Long Beach holding the Warriors to just three points. However, the defensive presence was found on both sides of the court with the Vikings only burying seven points. Freshman forward Brittnay McDaniel led the way early by notching three points via a layup and a free throw to hold an early 7-3 lead.
Freshman guard Tiana Augustus kicked off the second quarter by locating sophomore guard Ayerjenne Jeanmard for two points. Jeanmard followed the next possession with two points, followed by a three pointer off the hand of freshman guard Alexis Camarena to hold a commanding 14-6 advantage.
Freshman guard Janay Wellington handed the Vikings their largest advantage midway through the second quarter by kissing two points of the glass. Camarena followed a couple possessions later with a jumper assisted by sophomore center Miranda Martinez. Heads-up defends led to offense for Camarena a handful of possessions later, as she record a steal leading to a successful and-one play earning the Vikings a 26-18 lead at halftime.
LBCC remained effective early in the third quarter with multiple players chipping in on the scoring front. Martinez kicked off the second half by drilling a shot behind the arc, followed by two points each from Martinez and Augustus. McDaniel notched another bucket, while Jeanmard hit two shots from the charity stripe en route to a 42-30 advantage leading into the final 10 minutes of play.
The Pirates made the contest interesting towards the middle of the fourth quarter by pulling within seven at the halfway mark. However, from then on, it was all Vikings with Martinez taking the offensive reigns. She went on to net six points, backed by eight points from Jeanmard – six coming from the charity stripe – leading to a 64-53 victory.
The Vikings saw three starters hit the double-digit mark in scoring, with Jeanmard pacing the squad with a game-high of 16. Her game-high scoring output earned her a double-double by hauling in a ridiculous 15 boards. She added five assists and three steals as well.
Martinez matched Jeanmard's double-double by drilling 12 points and crashing the boards for 12 rebounds. Hernandez flushed 14 points as well.
Camarena led the bench brigade in scoring with six points, while McDaniel dropped five points.
After falling to El Camino in the championship game, the Vikings will hit their home hardwood for the first time this season by facing off against the Palomar College Comets on Wednesday, December 14 at 5 p.m.