Girl Cagers Stay On Pathway to Victory : Morningside Routs Hanford, 76-45, in Regional Semis

With less than a minute left in the first half, Morningside’s 6-5 center, Lisa Leslie, tried to dunk. The shot would have given the Monarchs a seven-point lead.

Instead she missed and Hanford guard Teala Richardson made an 18-foot shot that left Morningside with a 34-31 lead at half time of Thursday night’s Southern California Division I Regional semifinal at Morningside.

“Everybody always says to me, ‘The only thing I want to see you do is dunk,’ ” Leslie said. “I was on a break and I figured I’d try it.”

In the second half, the Lady Monarchs came out running and pulled away for a 76-45 win that earned them a spot in Saturday’s regional final at 6:15 p.m. in the Sports Arena.

Morningside (32-1) will play Lynwood (30-4), a 66-57 winner over Westchester in the other regional semifinal, for the fourth time this season. The Lady Monarchs have won two of the three previous meetings, including last week’s 60-55 victory in the Southern Section 4-A final.

Morningside proved why it is the top-ranked girls team in the state by outscoring Hanford 22-2 in the third quarter to take a 56-33 lead. Leslie scored 12 of her 22 points in the period.

“Our shooting just went cold in the second half,” said Hanford Coach Dwayne Tubbs. “And they swarmed us on defense. They really hurt us.”

While the Lady Monarchs were scoring on fast breaks and fancy passes in the third quarter, Hanford scored only once when junior Heidi Wippel managed an inside basket.

“I just told the team at half time to settle down and play their game,” said Morningside Coach Frank Scott. “We could just turn on when we want to and we did.”

Morningside forward Shaunda Greene, a two-time All-American, matched Leslie for game-high scoring honors with 22 points and both had 10 rebounds. Leslie also blocked 11 shots.

Point guard Carla Gladden contributed 18 points and 10 assists, while guard Jo Jo Witherspoon had 14 points and seven assists. Only four players scored for the Lady Monarchs.

Hanford (25-2) stayed close in the first half thanks to its ability to take advantage of Morningside mistakes. The Lady Monarchs missed easy inside shots and had several turnovers.

“We had too many dumb mistakes,” said Scott. “I guess they were kind of anxious.”

But in the second half, Morningside turned things around.

Hanford couldn’t keep up with the Lady Monarchs’ physical play. The Bullpups were continually beaten inside.

Wippel led Hanford with 10 points.