Hot First Half Lifts State No. 11 Women's Basketball Over LBCC

Ranked No. 11 in the state, the Pasadena City College women's basketball team raced to a 40-20 halftime lead on its way to a 57-40 win over Long Beach City College Wednesday night at Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium. 

Also rated No. 5 in the region, the Lancers improved to 15-3 overall while the SoCal No. 13 Vikings dropped to 9-9.

A 13-0 run early allowed PCC to take a 19-8 first-quarter lead. In the second period, consecutive 3-point bombs by Patience Madayag and Ilianna Blanc upped it to 32-12. Alisa Shinn's late layup kept the lead at 20 points.

In the second half, it was a string of missed shots by both teams and the defenses clamped down on both sides of the floor. Even though Pasadena got up as much as 23 at 48-25, the Vikings rallied as the Lancers finally went cold from the field and the free throw line. A 3-pointer by Vivian Hernandez cut it to 50-38 with 5:11 left. It was as close as the Vikings would get.

Blanc scored a game-high 15 points while Shinn reached a double-double on 12 points and 10 rebounds. Jolene Robinson added 10 points (all in the first half) with six rebounds and four steals. Samaiyah Abdullah added five points, four rebounds and four assists off the bench while center Kailyn Gideon picked up seven points and eight boards.

For LBCC, Miranda Martinez scored 12 points and totaled 10 rebounds.