Mt. SAC Knocks Women's Hoops From 1st Place In SCC North

A defensive chess match worked in favor of state #8-ranked Mt. San Antonio as the Mounties ended the #11 Pasadena City College women's basketball team's 4-game win streak and took sole possession of first place in the South Coast Conference North Division race, 55-47, Wednesday night at Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium.

Mt. SAC (19-5 overall) is now 4-0 to top the SCC North while the Lancers fell to 16-6 and 3-1. 

The Lancers trailed 19-13 after one quarter, 31-25 after two, and 42-38 going into the final period. In the fourth, Cosette Balmy gave PCC its only lead, 44-43, when her jump shot hit the rang the rim as the ball went up four feet before falling through the net with 5:25 left. Mt. SAC responded with a 9-0 run capped by a 3-pointer by Mina Guevara-Goss that put the contest out of reach.

PCC's poor shooting (17 of 62 from the field, 27.4 percent) overall got worse in the final 10 minutes when the Lancers made only 3 of 18 floor attempts and just 2-for-6 from the free throw line. The Lancers were led by Balmy, who came off the bench midway through the first quarter, with 16 points, but Mt. SAC limited Dariel Johnson to 13 points and 11 rebounds (four blocks, three steals). No other Pasadena player scored more than five points. The starters were held to 27 points. 

Guevara-Goss led Mt. SAC with 20 points but was the only Mountie to solve PCC's own strong defensive efforts. The Lancers forced Mt. SAC into 23 turnovers, including 15 steals, four by Kristal Espinoza (five points, seven rebounds). 

The Lancers return to action for the second half of SCC North play on Wednesday, Feb. 12 in a 5 p.m. tip-off at Rio Hondo College.