Women's Cagers Use Another Late Surge To Win At ELAC

The state #25-ranked Pasadena City College women's basketball team has made a habit of using late runs in games to secure victories. That was the case on Friday when PCC used a 10-2 run midway through the fourth quarter to pull away from host East Los Angeles in an 82-71, South Coast Conference North Division triumph.

The Lancers upped their overall record to 15-9 and are 4-1 to remain in second place in the North. The win also was head coach Joe Peron's 575th of his 27-year career. Peron is already the all-time winningest head coach in PCC history for all sports and continues to add to that total.

PCC led 16-11 after one quarter and had two evenly played quarters as the Lancers led 58-54 going into the fourth period. ELAC had cut the score to 64-62, but Vanessa Epperson got the hot hand as she sandwiched two 3-point bombs around layups by Abigail Saville and Antuanae Garrett during a run that gave PCC a commanding 74-64 advantage with four minutes left. 

ELAC (10-15, 2-3) could not mount another rally despite former PCC guard Guadalupe "Lupe" Vazquez scoring a game-high 32 points. 

Pasadena received sterling performances from the starting lineup led by Epperson with 22 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals and Garrett also with 22 points, five assists and four steals. Garrett poured in six 3-pointers in eight attempts from long range. 

Saville added 16 points and eight rebounds while Lamia Daley tallied 16 points, four assists and three steals. Kayla Faeldonea scored a three of the bench and starting center Crystal Smith had three points and five rebounds. 

PCC next plays a conference game at Los Angeles Trade-Tech on Wednesday, Feb. 14 in a 7 p.m. tip-off.