Women's Cagers Finally Earn SCC North Win

The Pasadena City College women's basketball team broke the program's 11-game losing streak in South Coast Conference North Division play dating back two years by using defense to outlast Rio Hondo, 42-38, on Wednesday night at Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium.

The Lancers evened their overall record to 12-12 and now are 1-3 in division play, winning for the first time in SCC action since a Feb. 23, 2024 triumph over Rio Hondo, 86-58.

Against the Roadrunners (11-13, 1-3), neither team reached double digits in scoring until 6:15 left in the second quarter when Celine Bolton-Ford made a layup for an 11-6 PCC lead. The Lancers would take a 16-10 advantage into halftime, then opened an 11-point lead at 31-20 on Kamora Fletcher's basket-and-one in the third quarter.

Rio Hondo battled back to tie it at 38-38 on a driving layup by Alicia Lara with 1:20 to go. With 1:01 remaining, Bolton-Ford came up with the big play as she took a pass from Monica Menzies and hit the inside basket while being fouled. She completed the 3-point play with a free throw. PCC's defense took over and finished off the conference victory.

Fletcher scored a game-high 19 points while adding eight rebounds. The duo of Bolton-Ford (21 rebounds, nine points, six blocks) and Paris Ngeam (19 rebounds) combined for 40 boards. Menzies added nine points, four steals and three assists. 

Bolton-Ford is the SCC leader in blocks with 54 and her 2.3 average per game places her tied for fourth in the state. The sophomore's 12.6 average is second in the entire SCC and she hit the 20-rebound mark for the fourth time this season. 

Poor shooting stood out as PCC made just 27 percent from the field which was 10 percent better than Rio Hondo making just 14 of 79 total shots from the floor. 

PCC next plays at state #23 Los Angeles Trade-Tech on Wednesday, Feb. 11 in a 7 p.m conference tip-off.