Out Of Gas

Glendora, CA -- The Citrus College Women's Basketball team gave it a go on Wednesday night when they hosted State #18 Los Angeles Valley College. The Owls hung with the Monarchs for 25 minutes of the contest before the shorthanded Citrus squad just plain ran out of gas. Valley pulled away big late, downing Citrus 56-39.

The Owls dug themselves into an early hole, as they allowed Valley to jump out to an 11-0 lead to star the game. Citrus' first points of the contest wouldn't come until nearly five full minutes had passed and freshman Jasmine Longtin buried a eight foot jumper to put the Owls on the board.

Citrus clawed their way back into the game, getting the Monarch lead all the way down to one point after a jumper in the paint from sophomore Nicole Zugasti made it 17-18 with 6:25 to go. Valley would push the lead back to seven points, but a jumper just inside the three point line from sophomore Sarah Rebibo sent Citrus into the break trailing by just five points 29-24.

The Owls kept it close to start out the second half, but a trey from Valley with 14:48 to go pushed their lead to nine points and things started to look bleak for the Owls. Citrus got the lead back down to six after a pair of free throws from freshman Natalie Lam made it 36-42 with 9:58 on the clock.

That's as close as it would get though, as the Owls were held scoreless over the next five minutes, while Valley went on an 11-0 run that put the game out of Citrus' reach. The Owls struggled to put the ball in the bucket in the second half, hitting just four field goals and shooting a miserable 16.7% from the floor.

In the loss, Citrus was led by Lam who scored a game high 15 points. Rebibo added 10, while Zugasti scored seven points, pulled down 14 rebounds, and blocked five shots.

With the loss, Citrus falls to 11-8 on the year and 0-3 in WSC South play. While it's still early in the conference season, the Owls are getting dangerously close to being in must win territory for every game if they harbor dreams of qualifying for the post-season. The Owls will get the weekend to recuperate, and will be back out on the hardwood next Wednesday when they travel North to take on Bakersfield College at 7:00 PM.