Talia Rayford had a huge game with 16 pts, 19 rebs, 6 asts and 4 steals and #4 Long Beach held off a late rally from host #9 East LA to post a 67-56 win in South Coast Conference women's action Friday night.
Rayford helped Long Beach (16-2, 6-1) jump out to a 20-point halftime lead, and Long Beach pushed its lead to as many as 25 points early in the second half. East LA (11-7, 4-3) rallied to close the gap to six points with just under five minutes to go, but Long Beach answered with a 7-0 run to finally put the game out of reach.
Long Beach held a modest early lead, 14-9, but then went on a 13-2 run to push its advantage to 16 points at 27-11. Kaaron King hit a turnaround jumper to increase the lead to 20 points at 37-27 with just under four minutes left in the first half, and Long Beach led, 43-23, at the break.
When the second half began, Long Beach extended its lead. Shakeena Benton hit a short jumper to make it 45-23. A 3-pointer by Benton made it 53-30 with just over 16 minutes left. King scored off a pass from Tiffany Taylor moments later to make it 55-30.
But East LA responded with a 23-4 run that closed the gap to just six points. A 3-pointer by Teresa Miller got ELAC within 18 points at 57-39. A basket by Dioseline Lopez and another three by Miller made it 57-44. DeLaura Castaneda scored on a drive and then passed to Karina Ortiz who scored on a lay-up to make it 57-48. A basket by Miller made it 57-50. After two free throws by Rayford for Long Beach, Ortiz banked in a 3-pointer to make it 59-53 with just under five minutes left.
But then Long Beach answered with the 7-0 run to take control of the game again. Benton scored on a runner to make it 61-53, and King scored off a pass from Benton on a fast break to make it 63-53. Jasmine Williams made one of two free throws with 2:14 left, and King scored off a pass from Rayford with 1:05 left to make it 66-53 and all but clinch the win for Long Beach.
Rayford led Long Beach in scoring and posted game-highs in rebounds, assists and steals. King had 15 points and 9 rebounds to just miss a double-double. Benton had 8 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.
For East LA, Miller had a game-high 18 points, including 3 threes, plus 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. Castaneda came off the bench to post a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Ortiz had 11 points and added 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and a game-high 6 blocked shots.
box score
Friday, Jamuary 18, 2013 - 7 pm
at East LA College, Monterey Park
South Coast Conference - Women
Long Beach 67:
3-Shakeena Benton, SG - 3/12 fg, 1/2 ft, 5 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 8 pts
4-Jasmine Williams, SF - 3/7 fg, 1/4 ft, 1 reb, 1 stl, 4 pf, 7 pts
14-Talia Rayford, PF - 5/8 fg, 6/8 ft, 19 reb, 6 ast, 4 stl, 2 pf, 16 pts
23-Kyrese Montgomery, PG - 2/3 fg, 0/1 ft, 3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 5 pts
44-Kaaron King, C - 7/18 fg, 1/3 ft, 9 reb, 1 ast, 3 blk, 2 stl, 2 pf, 15 pts
12-Crystal Cockerhan, C - 0/3 fg, 7 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 3 pf, 0 pts
1-Destinn Romain, F - 1/4 fg, 3 reb, 1 stl, 2 pf, 2 pts
24-Dana Arrington, C - 0/1 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 reb, 1 blk, 2 pf, 1 pt
15-Tiffany Taylor, G - 3/5 fg, 3 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 6 pts
20-Janissa Zagal, G - 3/6 fg, 7 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 27/67 fg (.403), 10/20 ft (.500), 56 reb, 18 ast, 5 blk, 12 stl, 20 pf, 67 pts
3-pt fg (3): Benton, Montgomery, Zagal
Turnovers (22): Benton 5, Williams 3, Rayford 3, Montgomery 3, King 3, Cockerhan 3, Romain, Taylor
East LA 56:
5-Candace Wade, SG - 0/4 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 reb, 1 blk, 4 pf, 1 pt
21-Karina Ortiz, C - 5/13 fg, 0/1 ft, 5 reb, 2 ast, 6 blk, 2 stl, 3 pf, 11 pts
22-La Tasha Brown, PF - 0/4 fg, 2/4 ft, 4 reb, 1 pf, 2 pts
24-Dioseline Lopez, PG - 3/14 fg, 3/3 ft, 5 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 3 stl, 3 pf, 9 pts
55-Teresa Miller, SF - 7/13 fg, 1/3 ft, 5 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl, 2 pf, 18 pts
10-DeLaura Castaneda, F - 5/10 fg, 4/8 ft, 10 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 14 pts
13-Stephanie Rodriguez, G - 0/3 fg, 1/2 ft, 3 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 1 pt
20-Alexis Valles, F - 0/1 fg, 0/3 ft, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 0 pts
12-Danielle Eona, C - 1 pf, 0 pts
11-Dominique Hernandez, G - 0 pts
team rebounds: 6
Totals: 20/62 fg (.323), 12/26 ft (.462), 40 reb, 13 ast, 9 blk, 9 stl, 19 pf, 56 pts
3-pt fg (4): Miller 3, Ortiz
Turnovers (21): Lopez 8, Castaneda 5, Wade 2, Ortiz 2, Rodriguez 2, Brown, Valles
Halftime Score: Long Beach 43, East LA 23
Updated Records: Long Beach (#4 South, t-#6 Calif) 16-2 overall, 5-2 in SCC; East LA (t-#9 South, t-#11 Calif) 11-7 overall, 4-3 in SCC
Long Beach led 55-30 about 4 minutes into the 2nd half. East LA rallied to within 6 at 59-53 with just under 5 minutes left, but Long Beach held on thanks to a 7-0 run to push the lead back to double digits.
