By Tadzio Garcia
The No. 18-statewide ranked East Los Angeles College women’s basketball team remained undefeated in South Coast Conference play after an 80-62 road win over El Camino College last night.
“We were ready to end our three-game skid so we shared the ball better than we did in our last three contests. As a result, we beat El Camino on the offensive glass,” Head Coach Bruce Turner said.
The Huskies host Los Angeles Southwest College tomorrow night in the men’s gym at 6 p.m.
ELAC and El Camino were even on paper entering the game having one opponent in common, West Los Angeles College. El Camino beat the Wildcats, 56-51, a month ago. ELAC beat West LA 60-59, off of a Karina Ortiz buzzer beater, three weeks ago.
The Huskies and El Camino did not disappoint and played even for the first several minutes of the game. A jump shot by El Camino’s Kelsey Ashigo with 12:52 remaining the in the first half gave the Warriors a 13-12 lead.
ELAC’s Candace Wade answered with a jump shot to give the Huskies a one-point lead they would not relinquish.
Turner, coaching his seventh year at ELAC, played the entire freshman-laden team instead of pouring on the score. The bench responded with seven rebounds and seven assists.
ELAC’s bench also scored 20 points – eight from Theresa Miller who was 2-of-3 from the three-point range, and six points each from Alexis Valles and Wade.
“We also had great shot selection,” Turner said. Three starters scored in double figures as a result. DeLaura Castanada pumped in 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Dioselene Lopez added 16 points and eight assists while La Tasha Brown scored nine while hauling in 10 rebounds.
Ortiz, who scored six points, added three steals. Her three blocked shots got loud approval from the Husky faithful, which included alumni Keyanna Johnson and Antineisha Hill. Johnson and Hill led the 2011-2012 Huskies to an Elite Eight finish.
The win leaves the Huskies with a 9-4 overall record, 2-0 in the SCC. El Camino (3-5, 0-2) slides to a four-game losing streak.