Defense Drives Owls

Glendora, CA - The Citrus College Women's Basketball team put together arguably their most impressive defensive display of the season on Wednesday night when they hosted Victor Valley College in WSC East play. The result? Citrus held the State's leading scorer to seven points below her average including three total points in the second half, and the rest of the team to just 17.8% shooting from the floor in a commanding 70-35 victory over the Rams.

The game started off in a bit of a slog as Citrus scored just three points in the first five minutes of the game, while holding Victory Valley to a single field goal in that same stretch. The Owls would finally begin to find a rhythm using an 8-0 burst that featured a jumper by sophomore Jessica Rosas and back-to-back treys by sophomore Jasmine Meza to make it 11-2. Citrus went cold after that though, and the Rams closed out the first quarter by scoring six straight to head into the second frame down by three.

Victor Valley would land the first blow in the second, but the Owls responded with an 9-2 outburst that put Citrus ahead 20-12 after a layup by freshman Jasmine Williams. The Rams would proceed to get their deficit down to four points twice over the next couple of minutes, but the Owls closed the first half with four straight free-throws by freshman Cassandra Martinez to head into halftime leading 27-19.

In the third, the Rams opened things up with a little 8-2 run that pulled them just two points back of Citrus. That as close as they would get the rest of the way, as the Owls went on to score the next 16 points, while holding Victor Valley to just two free-throws in the final seven plus minutes of third quarter action. In the fourth, Citrus just further sealed the deal, outscoring the Rams 23-6.

Meza led the way offensively for Citrus, scoring a game high 21 points, hitting seven three's. Meza also reeled in seven rebounds, and was one of five Owls who pulled down at least seven boards. Rosas added 16 points, seven rebounds, and a pair of steals, while Martinez had 14 points and matched a game high five assists. Williams rounded out the superlatives, being a menace for the Owls everywhere on the floor. Williams pulled down 15 rebounds, handed out five assists, and recorded six steals in the victory.

With the win, Citrus improves to 5-13 overall and 1-1 in WSC East play. The Owls have a stiff test on Saturday when they travel to Glendale College for a 5:00 PM showdown with the Vaqueros.