Vaqueros can’t complete comeback
NORTHEAST GLENDALE — The pattern continued Wednesday afternoon for the members of the Glendale Community College women’s basketball team — one half of struggling before putting things together in the other half.
It’s gotten to the point where Glendale college second-year Coach Carrie Miller has seen her team commit its share of turnovers, leading directly to large scoring runs by the opposition and leaving the Vaqueros in a large hole to climb out of on a game-by-game basis.
“We’ve been battling all year with only playing one half,” Miller said after Glendale fell, 54-47, to visiting San Diego Mesa College in an opening-round contest of the inaugural Christmas Crossover four-team round-robin tournament. “We had 16 turnovers in the first half and that’s potentially 32 points.
“We are giving teams more opportunities because of that and we need to do a better job of taking care of the ball.”
Glendale (3-10) lost its fifth-straight game and ninth in its last 10. It will conclude the tournament at 3 p.m. today against Mira Costa College, which posted a 61-55 overtime victory against College of the Desert, also on Wednesday.
The Vaqueros finished with 27 turnovers Wednesday.
Glendale scored on its first possession, but then San Diego Mesa used a 22-0 run to take a 22-2 lead with 12:32 left in the first half. Ten seconds later, the Vaqueros ended the run with a layup by freshman forward Lidia Rivas.
GCC trailed, 31-15 at the half. The deficit proved to be too much to overcome against San Diego Mesa (6-7), though the Vaqueros played better in the second half.
“We came back in the second half by doing a better job of battling,” Miller said. “I’m waiting for us to play two complete halves.
“The light will come on. Once we start doing that, it can change the whole dynamics. It’s just about believing they can do it. We have to clean up some things, like turnovers.”
The Vaqueros received a team-high 15 points from Rivas, a Glendale High graduate and former All-Pacific League pick. Rivas scored 10 second-half points to help put the Vaqueros in position for a late comeback bid.
“We started coming back [in the second half] because our spacing was a lot better,” Rivas said. “We were able to run our offense better.
“In the first half, our spacing was off and we had some turnovers.”
Glendale got nine points from freshman forward Daniela Parada and eight from sophomore forward Jenee Stevenson. Michelle Eclar, a Glendale Adventist Academy graduate, added five assists and three steals for Glendale.
San Diego Mesa, which will meet College of the Desert at 1 p.m. today, got 16 points from freshman guard Stevi Hall and 14 points, six assists and five steals from freshman guard Lucille Gleason.
Following today, the Vaqueros won’t compete again until Jan. 4, when they begin Western State Conference action against visiting Citrus College.
