The state No. 12-ranked Pasadena City College women's basketball team matched fellow South Coast Conference North Division opponent and unranked Rio Hondo in field goals made, 22-22, in their Friday night meeting. Problem was that the Roadrunners accomplished their total with just 22 misses for a solid 50 percent mark while the Lancers missed, and missed and missed some more, finishing with 75 failed attempts.
The cold shooting by PCC (just 22.7 percent, 22-for-97) exceeded the cold temperatures that have swept the Southland this past week and it resulted in Rio Hondo upsetting the Lancers, 58-57, ending a 20-year, 11-game losing streak against PCC and Coach Joe Peron teams. The game was played at Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium. The loss dropped the Lancers (17-7 overall) deeper in the tough SCC North standings, now tied for fourth with Rio Hondo (15-11) at 2-4 in the conference.
The last time Rio Hondo beat the Lancers was on Nov. 18, 1999 in PCC's season opener, 71-60, at the Long Beach Tournament. It had been so long since a Roadrunners win over PCC that five current Lancers weren't even born by that date and Peron was in just his fourth season as the college's head coach. In the all-time series, PCC is 14-2 v. Rio Hondo.
Now losers of four of its last five games, Pasadena will try to break its slump at #3 ranked East Los Angeles on Wednesday, Feb. 13 (7 p.m. tip-off following the men's game).
The Lancers led Rio Hondo, 19-12, after one quarter and 31-23 by halftime. In the third quarter, the Roadrunners stormed back as Candace Black scored four consecutive baskets in a 12-0 RHC run to take a 40-35 lead. PCC's Dariel Johnson cut the lead to one, 44-43, on a layup near the end of the period.
In the fourth quarter, Melissa Felix netted one of her five 3-point bombs that tied it for Pasadena at 46-46. Rio Hondo took the lead right back at 51-46 thanks to a layup and then a 3-pointer by Kailey Gutierrez. Over the last 10 minutes, the Lancers had numerous chances and follow-up attempts but could only get five out of 36 shots to land through the net. The poor shooting allowed Rio Hondo (4-for-7 from the field in the quarter) to escape with the upset.
Johnson would put back her own miss with just 0.4 of a second left and then made the ensuing free throw to make it only a 1-point loss. Johnson scored 17 points and matched her career-high of 25 rebounds. She added four steals and four blocked shots. Felix came off the bench to deliver 17 points. Zaira Velasquez contributed four points but grabbed 16 rebounds. Johnson had 14 offensive boards and Velasquez 12 on the offensive end as PCC totaled a season-high 48 offensive rebounds. The Lancers outrebounded the Roadrunners, 66-40.
Black led Rio Hondo with 22 points and 10 boards.