Community College : Basketball Playoffs : Golden West Pulls Away, Defeats Palomar, 88-58

Golden West College overcame a sluggish start and went on to an easy 88-58 victory over Palomar in a Southern Section state playoff women’s community college basketball game Tuesday at Golden West.

It was the 15th consecutive victory for the South Coast Conference champion Rustlers (31-1), who on Friday night at home will play the winner of tonight’s Fullerton-Cypress game. The winner of Friday’s matchup will advance to the state tournament, March 5 to 7 at Cypress.

The Comets (15-10) opened a 28-18 lead with 7:58 left in the first half, but Golden West, which is ranked second in the state behind College of the Sequoias, outscored Palomar, 16-7, and trailed, 35-34, at halftime.

In the second half, Golden West put its fast break to work and pulled away, outscoring Palomar, 54-23, in the half. The Rustlers’ Jeannine Battaglia, a freshman guard who didn’t score until 8:42 remained in the first half, scored 16 of her game-high 26 points in the second half.

Golden West center Stacy Barnes scored 18 points and had 17 rebounds, and teammate April Marion scored 16 points and had 19 rebounds, with 15 rebounds in the second half.

Palomar was led by Kristen Hurd, who scored 13 points but only one in the second half.