Coyote Athletics : Women's Basketball : Headlines

Cerro Coso splits pair

By Cheeto Barrera, Sports Editor, The Daily Independent

“A coach's fantasy is to have a practice and have everyone healthy,”

The one thing that Cerro Coso women's basketball coach Tom Heck said he wanted more than anything in a season is to have a healthy squad, at least temporarily.

“A coach's fantasy is to have a practice and have everyone healthy,” Heck said. “In the six years that I've been teaching here, I've never had that.”

But Heck and the rest of the Coyotes managed to keep it together despite injuries and sickness to win their 15th game this season, beating Victor Valley College 76-65 on Saturday, but fell 65-51 to Mt. San Jacinto College on Monday.

On Monday, the Coyotes took a 25-22 half-time lead which they extended to 37-32 in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

But the team began turning the ball over, allowing the Eagles to go on a 15-4 run and never looked back.

“We played the triangle as good as we could run it, and they complemented us on it,” Heck said. “He made great adjustment. He went small and brought in more shooters and we lost.”

Lynette Dineyazhe led the team with 20 points, including four 3-pointers.

But if the losing the game wasn't bad enough, with five minutes to play, Sherena Gene went up for a rebound and lost her footing on the way down. She smacked her head on the ground and after a delay of more than 20 minutes, was carted off in an ambulance.

The injury is another to tally to the Lady Coyotes, who are already missing players for the season and have others who are playing hurt.

Heck gave credit to his trainer who has to get the ladies ready before each practice and game.

“I give Kim Kelly a lot of credit,” Heck said. “It takes her an hour to get the kids ready. Just to have 10 available for a scrimmage is amazing.”

With starters Angel Lash and Dar'Shelle Lynch either sick or hobbling from a leg injury, the Coyotes relied on their other players to combat the Rams charge.

“We were so fortunate tonight to win,” Heck said. “Lash had a stomach flu, Lynette tweaked her leg and (Kaylina) Abeyta had a strained neck.”

Initially, Cerro Coso fell into a 16-10 hole until Dineyazhe began connecting with 3-pointers on her way to six in the first half.

The Coyotes went on a 19-7 scoring run to take a 29-23 lead.

Dineyazhe and the rest of the Coyotes scored 30 of their 40 points from beyond the 3-point arc.

Cerro Coso went into the locker room leading 40-32.

Dineyazhe finished the game with a team leading 27 points and seven treys.

When the second half started, both teams traded buckets, with the Coyotes holding a 10-point lead.

Victor Valley College managed to cut the Coyotes' lead to four going on a 11-3 run.

Cerro Coso answered with an 18-7 run to effectively put the game out of reach taking a 72-57 lead.

But Victor Valley remained scrappy pulling down 22 second-half rebounds to Cerro Coso's 17. The Rams out rebounded the Coyotes 44-28 for the game.

Heck's answer to the boards was defensive pressure to keep the top Victor Valley players at bay.

The Rams were led by Ashley Olivera who scored 21 points, including four 3-pointers.

“We played a triangle two defense to try to take away their two best players, which we had limited success,” Heck said. “They scored half of their points on our turnovers, and that hurt.”

Cerro Coso, who now holds a 15-7 over all record, will next take on Rio Hondo College on Wednesday to begin a four-game road trip.

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

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