Slow Shooting Leads to 40-57 Loss to No. 11 Pasadena

The south region's No. 13 Long Beach City College women's basketball team traveled to Pasadena, CA on Wednesday night to take on the state's No. 11 Pasadena City College Lancers on Wednesday night. Despite halting the Lancers to single-digit scoring in the third and fourth quarters, a slow start by the Vikings haunted them down the stretch en route to a 40-57 defeat.

The Viking's saw three of their six players land in double-digit scoring, with sophomore forward Miranda Martinez notching a double- double. Two of her 12 points came on the Viking's opening possession of the first quarter by kissing a layup off the glass. Freshman guard Tiana Augustus, who landed in double-digit scoring as well, ended a 14-0 Lancer run late in the first half by drilling two free throws after drawing a foul. Martinez capped off the first quarter with a jumper to bring the score to 8-19 in the Lancer's favor.

Long Beach continued to fight in the second quarter as freshman guard Vivian Hernandez began to heat up from long range by flushing two three pointers. Freshman guard Alexis Camarena chipped in a bucket in the opening minutes, while Martinez flushed two midrange jumpers to enter halftime down 20-40.

Valuable adjustments were made by the Vikings in the third quarter after outscoring the Lancers 11-8. Martinez located Hernandez for her third triple of the night to fuel the Viking offense, followed by a layup from Augustus. Freshman guard Janay Wellington capped off the scoring in the third quarter with a layup to bring the Viking deficit down to 17 points at 31-48.

While the Vikings displayed solid defense in the fourth quarter to halt the Lancers to just nine points, their offense produced the same output en route to a 40-57 defeat.

Martinez earned a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds while adding three blocks and three assists. Hernandez used a 4-for-11 mark from beyond the arc to earn her 12 points, while Augustus dropped an even 10 points.

The Vikings only shot 30.4% from the floor leading to a slow, offensive rhythm.

Long Beach (9-9) will face off against top-ranked East Los Angeles (14-1) on Friday, January 13 at 8 p.m. on the campus of El Camino College.