With smothering defense and timely baskets, the #3-seeded ELAC Huskies overpowered the #6 seed Pasadena City College Lancers 78-53 to advance to the CCCAA State Championships next week (March 15-17) at Ventura College. Jaelynn Curley had the 3-point shot working early en route to a game-high 21 points on just 13 shots. The Huskies shot almost 39% from the field but hit over 46% from three and, in a much-needed improvement over their last game, shot 87% from the free-throw line.

HUSTLE STATS

The Huskies built a 14-point first half lead on the strength of five blocked shots and eight steals. Yet, the team was out-rebounded by the Lancers 27-24. So ELAC strengthened their effort on the boards and on defense, particularly midway through the 3rd quarter. The Huskies were a +9 on the glass, and forced Pasadena into 2 for 17 shooting as the quarter closed with the Huskies up big 60-33. ELAC ended up besting their rivals in total rebounds, blocks and steals, using their defense to shut things down whenever the Lancers made a run to chip away at the lead. Jadis Watson had 11 rebounds, and Dominique Godbolt came off the bench to snag 13 boards in just 20 minutes of play.

UP NEXT

It's onto Ventura College this Friday, March 15th to take on the #2 seed Merced College Lady Blue Devils at 1pm in the CCCAA Elite Eight.