Women's Cagers Can't Catch Up v. State #25 Long Beach

Over the final three quarters of Thursday's contest v. visiting Long Beach City College, the Pasadena CC women's basketball team outscored the state's #25-ranked team, 38-34. Unfortunately for the Lancers, they were already in a 19-5 hole after the game's first 10 minutes as the Vikings handed them a 53-43 defeat. It was a team season low in scoring for the Lancers.

PCC's shooting woes, included failing to hit a 3-pointer (0-for-12) all night while also finding it hard to put the ball through the hoop in the first half when it made only 4-for-25 from the field and just 4-for-10 at the free throw line. While Pasadena's defense improved in the second quarter, the team trailed 27-12 by halftime.

The Lancers (9-9) were far better offensively in the second half, but went down by as much as 49-29 midway through the fourth quarter. PCC made 50 percent from the field (10-for-20) in the final 20 minutes and converted 9-for-11 from the charity stripe in the last period alone. 

Long Beach (8-8) was led by sophomore transfer Zoe Lamkin, a member of Orange Coast College's state finalist team last season, who scored 19 points and made four steals.

PCC was paced by Celine Bolton-Ford, who tallied 10 points, 12 rebounds all on the defensive end, four blocked shots and two steals. Kennedy Jackson added 10 points and Kamora Fletcher, who came off the bench, contributed 11 points. Ava Chang chipped in six points and four steals.

The Lancers have been playing in tighter low-scoring games of late, but the lack of scoring has been a hinderance. Going 1-4 in their last five games, the team is averaging just 51.2 points. In the squad's first 13 games, PCC averaged 66 points and it resulted in a 8-5 record. 

The freshman Fletcher tops the team and is ninth in the 11-team South Coast Conference at 15.1 points per game while Bolton-Ford's 11.9 rebounds average is second in the league. The sophomore Bolton-Ford's 28 blocked shots is also second among conference players. 

PCC has had a turnaround season under interim head coach Alexa Mirzaian as the Lancers already have four more victories than all of 2024-25. Among the team's defeats are two against #5 Moorpark and one against #6 MiraCosta.

Pasadena next hosts Cerritos College on Wednesday, Jan. 14 in a 7 p.m. tip-off at Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium. The Lancers don't begin their 8-game, SCC North Division schedule until Friday, Jan. 23 in hosting #24-ranked LA Trade-Tech.