Glendale college women’s basketball overcomes slow start to win 10th straight game
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GLENDALE — Though its offense got off to a rough start, the Glendale Community College women’s basketball team had enough pressure on the defensive end to keep Allan Hancock College from running away in the opening game of GCC Women’s Basketball Holiday Tournament.
It had been 10 days since the Vaqueros last played a game, and early on in their second straight matchup against the Bulldogs, the hosts struggled to score from the field before their shots started falling in the second quarter before building double-digit lead in the third.
Though Allan Hancock came within three points of the lead, Glendale pulled away to a double-digit advantage midway through the fourth quarter to extend its winning streak to 10 games with a 58-50 victory Wednesday.
“The nice thing is, to play a conference season, you’re going to have games when you’re not at your best,” Glendale coach Joel Weiss said. “You still have to be able to perform, so being able to work through this one, I think it’s a learning experience for us. We’ll play better basketball, hopefully, the next few nights.”
Vaqueros sophomore Penelope Trieu jostled through a few defenders to score the game’s first basket at 9:28 of the opening quarter, but Glendale (10-1) would not score another field goal until the 3:40 mark of the frame on a three-point play from sophomore Gloria Bianchi.
In the span, Glendale sophomore Tess Oakley-Stilson, a La Cañada High graduate, hit four shots from the line to keep the Vaqueros on the board.
The sophomore sank the last basket of the quarter with 34 seconds remaining for a 10-8 Glendale lead.
“We knew we just had to focus on having solid defense,” Oakley-Stilson said. “Even though none of our shots were falling, if we could limit them, then eventually our shots will fall and we could get back into a rhythm and it’ll all work out. It was just holding them to as few points as possible so we could hold out until we could make a shot.”
Oakley-Stilson led the Vaqueros with 27 points and six rebounds. Trieu added seven points and Bianchi contributed six points and six rebounds. Glendale sophomore Zoe Rouse also chipped in with eight points, seven assists and three steals, while former assistant coach and current Burroughs High girls’ coach Vicky Oganyan grabbed eight rebounds and dished out five assists.
The Bulldogs were led by Aryana Gonzalez with 13 points. She was followed by Jayci Bayne with 12 points and Alijah Paquet with 10 points and eight rebounds, while Sarah Gudeman also added eight points and 12 rebounds for Allan Hancock (6-6).
“We know Glendale pretty well, and it’s just a matter of us trying to stop them from what they do and them trying to stop us,” Allan Hancock coach Cary Nerelli said. “It was fairly, evenly matched, we just missed to many gimmes.
“We had our opportunities, we just didn’t capitalize on them. In order to beat a team as good and well-coached as Glendale is, you have to take advantage of those. We didn’t do it, they did.”
After Oganyan made her first field goal of the contest with a corner three-pointer with 6:42 left in the half, the Bulldogs went on an 8-0 run powered by consecutive threes from Gonzalez and Paquet to tie it at 18.
Oakley-Stilson lifted the Vaqueros to a 23-18 lead at the half after the sophomore knocked down a three-pointer.
“In the second quarter, we built an eight-point lead and it looked like we were starting to have momentum, but we had one or two bad defensive possessions where they capitalize on that and tied it back up,” Weiss said. “No excuses, but we just went through finals and they hadn’t played the game in 10 days. We weren’t crisp, we weren’t sharp and we have to be a heck of a lot better the next few nights.”
The Vaqueros scoring continued into the third quarter with back-to-back baskets from Bianchi and Oakley-Stilson for a 27-18 lead before Gonzalez cut the scoring run with a three-pointer.
The offense continued to do its part for the Vaqueros, who led by 12, before the Bulldogs cut the lead to 37-29 at the end of the quarter.
Another three-pointer from Gonzalez shrunk the Glendale lead to 37-34 at the start of the fourth. But a pair of baskets from Oakley-Stilson made it a seven-point lead.
“Our game plan was executed really well, we just couldn’t finish shots,” Nerelli said. “There were too many four-point plays where we missed a shot and Glendale was able to come down in transition and put it back in. If that happens four times in a game, that’s eight points, and there’s your eight points right there.”
Though the Bulldogs pulled within four points, a 7-0 Glendale run restored the Vaqueros’ double-digit lead with 4:39 left in the game.
“I think coach Nerelli did a good job of getting his kids ready,” Weiss said. “They played us differently [tonight] than they did up at their place. We lacked discipline on their drives and put them at the foul line a bunch.
“There was a period in time when they didn’t score on anything but foul shots and that’s on our own defense. I think it’s a good team and they’re well-coached and they were ready to play. We were a little slow.”
The Vaqueros defeated the Bulldogs, 53-38, on Dec. 7 in the Allan Hancock College Tournament.
