Coyote Athletics : Women's Basketball : Headlines

Coyote rout becomes slugfest

By Cheeto Barrera, Sports Editor, The Daily Independent

“We kept our composure and we didn’t play selfish.”

Cerro Coso opened its women’s basketball season with a 67-54 win over San Diego City College on Friday, but getting there was an adventure.

The Lady Coyotes spotted San Diego City eight points to begin the game, before going on a 29-10 run the rest of the first half. Early in the second half, Cerro Coso built a 14 point lead before the Knights (0-4) made another scoring run midway through the second to pull within three.

Head Coach Tom Heck had benched some of his starters for disciplinary reasons, which he attributed to some of the run that San Diego City went on.

Overall, however, Heck was pleased that his players kept going and didn’t allow the Knights to over take them.

“We did some good things and played well, I thought,” Heck said. “We kept our composure and we didn’t play selfish.”

Brenda Cantrell led the team with 15 points. She also had seven rebounds.

Cantrell tied on the night with San Diego’s Laura Mosqueda, who had 12 points in the second half.

The Coyotes seemed to have things wrapped up midway through the second frame, going up 43-29.

Then the Knights began to charge back.

Aided by 10 turnovers, in the half, San Diego City went on a 24-13 scoring run and pulled to within 56-53.

Most was thanks to free throw shooting, which accounted for 17 of the half’s 41 points for the Knights.

The Coyotes were outscored 41-38 for the entire half.

Heck said his players are still trying to figure out his adjustable 3-2 defense, but said overall he was pleased with the effort, the score not withstanding.

San Diego City also caught the Coyotes in pressure, switching from a half-court to a full-court press in the second, leading to some hurried plays and turnovers.

Twice Cerro Coso lost the ball on a shot clock violation.

Cerro Coso will next face Foothill Conference opponent Chaffey College on the road on Wednesday.

Chaffey holds a 4-1 record coming into the game and Heck said his ladies are going to have to play solid basketball if they are going to pull off a win.

“We have no margin for error,” Heck said. “San Diego is a scrappy team, but they are nothing to what we are going to see on Wednesday Night.”

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

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