Sixteen days after handing Mt. San Antonio its worst loss this century, the Pasadena City College women's basketball team had its tables reversed on by the Mounties, especially over the first three quarters Friday night. The 2-time defending state champions limited PCC to just 25 points and doubled the score, 50-25, over the game's first 30 minutes on their way to posting a 56-41 win in Walnut.
It was the second straight South Coast Conference North Division loss for the state No. 20-ranked Lancers, who dropped to 16-12 and 4-4 in conference. Ranked No. 11, Mt. SAC improved to 22-6 and 6-2 in the hotly contested SCC North. The Mounties were a different team with the return of their MVP Jonae Vermillion, who had 14 points, nine rebounds and blocked four shots. Vermillion helped stunt the PCC post play, allowing Mt. SAC to protect against open outside shots as well.
Sophomore center-forward Alisa Shinn once again carried the PCC offense, scoring 31 points, including all 16 of the team's points in the fourth quarter when Mt. SAC seemed content to take advantage of its giant lead. Shinn made 12-for-26 from the field, 7-for-10 from the free throw line, and grabbed 13 rebounds. The rest of the team's numbers might as well have been a note from a student saying "the dog ate my homework." Among the Shinn-less dreadful statistics were scoring just 10 points as a team, making only 4-for-36 from the field, 2-for-8 from the line, and missing all nine of PCC's 3-point attempts.
Shinn, who was coming off the second-highest individual scoring total in school history with 41 points v. LA Trade Tech on Feb. 7, now has totaled 72 out of the Lancers' 103 points (71.3 percent) in the last two defeats. It was the sixth time this season that Shinn scored more than 30 points.
The 6-foot-3 Shinn, the entire SCC's leading scorer at 21 points a game, is at 920 points in her PCC career, placing her currently at No. 7 as she passed Judith Espinoza (910 points, 2014-2016) on the school's all-time scoring list. Only three players have reached a 1,000 points and Shinn could reach that total if the Lancers advance to the postseason. The team finishes the regular season this week with two games, including hosting Chaffey College on Wednesday, Feb. 14 (5 p.m. at Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium).
Shinn's 17-18 season of 587 total points is already the second-most points scored by a PCC player ever in the regular season. The regular season record of 692 points was set by PCC Hall of Famer Tiana Sanders in 1998-1999. However, Sanders scored that total in 31 games played. Shinn has performed her numbers in only 28 games and will have played one less regular season contest than Sanders when PCC visits Rio Hondo College on Friday, Feb. 16.
In an update of PCC's postseason chances, the Lancers are No. 13 in the current RPI ratings for SoCal teams. Nineteen teams will be chosen for this year's playoffs. PCC is currently fourth place in the state's most powerful conference. Mt. SAC is No. 3, East Los Angeles No. 9, and first-place LA Trade Tech is at No. 11 in the RPI race.