Coyote Athletics : Women's Basketball : Headlines

Lady Coyotes take home opener

By Nathan Ahle, The Daily Independent

Cerro Coso's Stephanie Hart (with ball) eludes an L.A. Harbor defender during the Coyotes' 56-50 win Saturday night. Hart scored 14 points to lead the team. DAILY INDEPENDENT PHOTO BY MIKE DELANEY

The Cerro Coso Lady Coyotes opened their 2004-05 season with a split of their first two games.

The Coyotes lost 57-50 to the Victor Valley College Rams Thursday night. While the Rams are a Foothill Conference opponent, the game was an additional contest and will not count as part of the conference schedule. Cerro Coso battled back from a deficit but was unable to lead in the game.

"We have a size and depth problem, but we gave it a good run," said Cerro Coso Head Coach Tom Heck. "The effort was good and the kids played hard."

Stephanie Hart and Fernanda Yazzie led the Coyotes with 12 each, followed by Candace Poleyestewa and Tasheena Nelson with 10 each. Yazzie added four three-point shots.

The Lady Coyotes played their home opener Saturday afternoon against L.A. Harbor College, winning 56-50. Harbor jumped out to an early lead, but Cerro Coso (1-1) tied the game at 16 with 9:32 to go in the first half and kept the lead the rest of the way.

Cerro Coso led 29-28 at halftime, and opened up a six-point lead over the first 10 minutes of the second half. The locals' biggest lead of the evening was eight; the team led 48-40 with 7:50 to go.

L.A. Harbor made things interesting late in the game, cutting the Coyote lead to two at 52-50 with 48 seconds to play. Cetra Banks hit a free throw on the front end of a one-and-one situation to extend the lead to 53-50, and Hart later hit two free throws to give Cerro Coso a five-point lead with 19 seconds to go. Yazzie was later fouled and iced the game with the final free throw.

Afterward, Heck was pleased with the effort on defense.

"We did well rebounding out of the box-and-one," Heck commented on his team's defensive setup. "We played well down the stretch, but we need to be stronger inside to be better in our league."

The coach had praise for Banks and Yazzie in particular for playing solid basketball. Both players, along with Poleyestewa and Nelson had 10 points each, while Hart led the Coyotes from the point guard position with 14 points.

Cerro Coso will participate in the L.A. Pierce Tournament in Woodland Hills Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The team's next home game is Dec. 14 against Cuyamaca College at 5 p.m. Cerro Coso will again host their New Year's Tournament Dec. 29-30.

November 23, 2004

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