Mt. SAC, Long Beach, Pasadena Stay Above Rest In Women's Basketball

While not the strongest of seasons in women's basketball for the South Coast Conference, three teams have continued their winning ways.

State #2-ranked Mt. San Antonio College continues to be the class of the SCC with an 18-2 overall record. The Mounties have won 14 straight, including scoring a team season high in a 102-55, North Division opening victory on Jan. 26. Mt. SAC could well be on its way to a fourth straight SCC North title. 

Like Mt. San Antonio, state #18 Long Beach City is also a 3-time defending conference champion of the South Division. The Vikings are 11-9 overall but already 2-0 to top the South, posting a 57-point win over Compton, then a 71-50 triumph over LA Harbor. On Monday, LBCC defeated #23 Ventura in a non-conference game, 73-63. 

LBCC's achilles heel, however, has been Mt. SAC, which has beaten the Vikings three times this season, including an 86-57 decision in a conference crossover on Jan. 19. 

Just one other team among the 10 squads in the two divisions has an above-.500 record--Pasadena City at 13-8. The Lancers were not ranked in this week's State Top 25, but held a #11 spot in the regional ratings. 

PCC is 2-0 to open SCC North play, defeating rival East Los Angeles, 71-66, in the division opener, then downing LA Trade-Tech by 38 points. Pasadena has had some hiccups along the way, including one of the most exciting finishes to a game in the state this year v. Cerritos on Jan. 17.

The Falcons (6-13, 1-0 in SCC South play) upset the Lancers by scoring two baskets in the final second of play. Cerritos made a buzzer-beater basket but the referees then put 0.4 of a second back on the clock. Incredibly, Rayne Rodriguez stole the inbounds pass and in one motion layed up the winning basket, 62-60, as the buzzer sounded a second time.

Pasadena will see how it does v. Mt. SAC when the Lancers travel to the Walnut campus on Wednesday, Jan. 31 in a division tilt. 

El Camino unfortunately had to end its season prematurely after seven non-conference games due to a lack of players. Because, the South carries six teams, it was ruled that ECC would simply have its conference games cancelled since the South still had five teams to make up the division.

Mt. San Antonio and the SCC happen to be the hosts of this year's 3C2A State Championship Tournament on Mar. 14-17.

Conference Leaders:

Scoring-Diara McBroom, LA Trade-Tech, 22 points per game (8th in state)
Rebounding-Sierra Crook, Compton, 16.6 average (5th in state)
FG Percentage-Brooklyn Mccrary, 57.4 percent (4th in state)
FT Percentage-Dalani Richardson, Mt. San Antonio, 83.3 percent (7th in state) 
3-Point FG Percentage-Guadalupe "Lupe" Vazquez, East Los Angeles, 44.6 percent (5th in state)
Total 3-Pointers-Vazquez, ELAC, 58
Assists-Kimberly Cruz-Martinez, Long Beach, 5.0 average (9th in state)
Steals-McBroom, LATT, 3.9 average (4th in state)
Blocks-Emily Liu, Rio Hondo, 3.4 average (3rd in state)