#19 Seed Women's Basketball At #14 San Diego Mesa In Return To Postseason

After missing the playoffs last season, the 2022-23 Pasadena City College women's basketball team earned the #19 seed and made the postseason for the 24th time in 26 seasons under head coach Joe Peron. The Lancers visit #14 San Diego Mesa tonight at 7 p.m. in a Southern California Regional Round 1 game.

PCC  (15-13 overall) face a Mesa team (17-13) for the second time this season after the Lancers lost to the Olympians, 62-61, in the Santa Ana Tournament back in December. 

In that tourney opener, PCC sophomore point guard Maiya Villanueva scored a game-high 17 points, backup letterman center Tatiana Ayala was successful on 5-for-6 from the field to score 11 points with five rebounds, and another second-year forward Emily Trinh chipped in six points and six rebounds. Transfer center Tena Ikidi added 11 points and grabbed 17 boards. 

A Villanueva 3-pointer gave PCC a 56-55 lead with two minutes remaining. With 42 seconds left, Ikidi hit a basket-and-one that cut Mesa's lead to 60-59. The Olympians' Bella Terry hit a jumper with 21 seconds left for a 62-59 advantage. Villanueva was fouled a 3-point attempt and made the first two free throws only to miss the third with the attempt rattling in out. She missed a jumper with three seconds left as Mesa snuck out with a 1-point victory. 

Peron, who last week earned his milestone #563rd victory to make him PCC's all-time wins leader in any sport, is 3-1 all-time v. Mesa and has a successful 37-22 career playoff record in what will be the 60th playoff game he will coach in his career. 

Mesa is paced by Gwen Morris-Ludstrom, who scored 15 points v. PCC, and averages 10.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Ikidi is the Lancers top performer with team-leading averages of 14.7 points and 15.6 rebounds a game. She leads the state with 437 total rebounds and is just nine shy of breaking the Lancers' single-season record.

For those unable to drive down to San Diego for the contest, the game can be viewed on Mesa's live stream at: rb.gy/upidg8