Head Coach Joe Peron knows that if his Pasadena City College women's basketball team wants to return to the postseason, his returning sophomores would have to step up and make bigger contributions than the squad made over the first six games this season.
At the Santa Ana Tournament Dec. 1-3, All-South Coast Conference letterman Maiya Villanueva and Naomi Turner and returning center Tatiana Ayala did just that as the Lancers won two of three games to go back over. 500 at 5-4.
In the opener, a 62-61 loss to San Diego Mesa, Villanueva scored a game-high 17 points, Ayala was successful on 5-for-6 from the field to score 11 points with five rebounds, two assists and two blocks, and another letterman forward Emily Trinh chipped in six points and six rebounds. Transfer forward Tena Ikidi added 11 points and grabbed 17 boards.
A Villanueva 3-pointer gave PCC a 56-55 lead with two minutes remaining. With 42 seconds left, Ikidi hit a basket-and-one that cut Mesa's lead to 60-59. The Olympians' Bella Terry hit a jump with 21 seconds left for a 62-59 advantage. Villanueva was fouled a 3-point attempt and made the first two free throws only to miss the third. She missed a jumper with three seconds left as Mesa snuck out with a 1-point victory.
On Dec. 2, Villanueva came back to score 21 points (four treys, 5-for-6 on free throws) with three assists and three steal and Turner netted 20 points (four 3s) with four assists in an 82-65 win over San Diego City College. Ikidi was a force in the post as she tallied 11 points, pulled down 21 rebounds, and blocked five shots. Atira Davis took advantage of starting to total 12 points and five assists and Ayalal did her part with eight points, six rebounds, ans three blocks.
With two minutes left in the third quarter, PCC led just 51-46, but the Lancers took control and outscored SDCC, 20-5, over the next five minutes to seal the win.
In the finale, Villanueva swished five 3-point baskets as part of her 19 points and Turner came off the bench to post solid numbers with 14 points, seven rebounds, five assists and five steals to lead PCC over Porterville, 68-60. Ikidi added eight points and 15 rebounds, Davis eight points, and Trinh seven points and five boards.
PCC led by 11 at halftime, 36-25, before Porterville cut it to 42-36. The Lancers clamped down on defense and eventually put together a 10-0 run over the final five minutes to distance themselves from the Pirates.
"There were a number of good things to take from this tourney," Peron said. "Veteran leadership can come in many ways, but here we had solid production from our returning players in Maiya, Naomi, Tatiana, and Emily. We need this as some of our freshmen are just learning the college game at this point. Maiya's consistent scoring is essential to our success. Tena continues to be a big factor on the boards for us. We almost won all three at Santa Ana, so we just need to build off this type of play."
Tonight, PCC plays at the College of the Sequoias Crossover Classic that was rescheduled due to health restrictions from Nov. 18-19. The Lancers open v. Sequoias in a 6 p.m. contest and then has a rematch v. Porterville on Thursday, Dec. 8 at 5 p.m.