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Women's Basketball

Women's Basketball Advances to Regional Final with a 74-56 Win vs. Palomar!

Women's Basketball Advances to Regional Final with a 74-56 Win vs. Palomar!

Game Leaders

Palomar
Pts: Chelse Ayala - 15
Reb: Chelse Ayala - 6
Ast: Chelse Ayala - 3
Mt. SAC
Pts: Jonnae Vermillion - 14
Reb: 2 Players (#11, #35) - 9
Ast: Alize' Lofton - 7

Team Stats

Palomar
Mt. SAC

Field Goals

(20-69)
(32-66)

Field Goal %

29.0%
48.5%

Rebounds

23
60

Assists

8
19

Turnovers

16
30

Pts off Turnovers

22
12

2nd Chance Pts

8
21

Pts in the Paint

0
0

Fastbreak Pts

0
0

Bench Pts

51
25
full stats
Posted: Mar 03, 2016
(Walnut) – By John Sherrard – The Mt. San Antonio College women's basketball team moved another step closer to the California Community College Athletic Association state final four playoffs Wednesday night with a 74-56 win over visiting Palomar College in the third round of the So Cal Regionals.
After jumping out to an impressive 21-0 lead in the first quarter, the Mountie women kept the pressure on the visiting Comets and came away with the victory sending them to their 14th consecutive Southern California CCCAA Regional final.
Top-ranked Mt. SAC will host No. 5 seed Irvine Valley College (23-7), a 45-39 winner over Long Beach City College, this Saturday. Game time is at 7 pm.
"Even though there is a bigger goal (state title), the present goal is to win the next game……survive and advance," Mt. SAC sixth-year coach Brian Crichlow said.

For the second consecutive game the Mounties had four players in double figures leading the way.

Freshman forward Jonnae Vermillion (Corona Santiago HS) led the way with a team-high 14 points, shooting 50% (6 for 12) and brought down nine rebounds. Freshman guard Caira Benton (Arcadia HS) added 13 points (4 for 6) with a perfect 5 for 5 at the charity stripe, while sophomore guard Alize' Lofton (Lynwood HS) and freshman forward Allyah George (Eisenhower HS) both had 10 points.

"Hopefully we will get to the state championship, but tonight was a huge win and hopefully it prepared us for Irvine (Valley College) on Saturday," Vermillion said. "They (Irvine) are a tough, tough team and Palomar, with that fast game got us ready."

Lofton grabbed nine rebounds, while George was 5 for 7 (71%) shooting and had six rebounds.

Palomar sophomore forward Chelse Ayala had a game-high 15 points for the Comets.

After a 21-2 Mt. SAC lead in the first quarter, Palomar had its biggest scoring output in the game with a 21-point second quarter to trail, 38-23 at the half. Benton, who is averaging 10 points on the season, led the Mounties with 11 points in the half.

The Mounties built up their biggest lead of the game early in the third quarter, 48-24, at the 6:54 mark, but Palomar's offense woke up again early in the fourth quarter. The Comets came their closest to Mt. SAC in the game to within 10 points, 62-52, with 7:41 left. However, sophomore guard Gina Henderson (Monrovia HS) hit a big 3-pointer to put the Mounties up by 13 points, 65-52, and Palomar didn't get any closer. Henderson had a trio of three-pointers in the game.

One of the big reasons Mt. SAC was so successful on both ends of the court was the rebounding. The Mounties had 60 rebounds (24 offensive, 36 defensive).

For more information contact Mt. SAC Sports Information at 909-274-4630 or follow the team on Twitter @mtsac_athletics.