Corsairs Escape the Dons with a Win
A season ago, the Santa Monica College Corsairs Women's basketball team finished with a 7-1 record, and won the State Conference Title for the third time ever. This season, with an almost entirely new group they will look for a repeat as champions.
The Lady Corsairs began this season with a dominating 87-51 victory over the San Diego Mesa Olympians at the Pavilion on Friday Nov. 3, 2017. Sophomore Jessica Melamed led the way with 18 points, and Luna Rivera had 11 total rebounds in the win.
The Corsairs looked to build upon their previous win as they hosted the Santa Ana Dons at the Pavilion on Saturday Nov. 4. The game started off with back to back three-pointers from Rejinae Crandell and Maylene Cabral of the Corsairs, well enough to take a seven point lead at the end of the first quarter.
Throughout the first half, the Corsairs shot selection and timing was inadequate compared to their previous game, but Santa Monica still lead the game by seven at the end of the first half.
Shot selections continued to be a problem for the Corsairs to begin the second half. The Dons crawled back into the game, and even tied it, but the Corsairs would gain some momentum in a game that became a back and forth affair.
The Corsairs would suffer a loss on their squad, as guard Maylene Cabral landed awkwardly on a rebound attempt, and would be carried off the court on what appeared to be an ankle injury. She would not play for the rest of the game.
Another loss took a toll on the Corsairs as their point guard, Jessica Melamed, was disqualified from the game in the fourth quarter. She fouled out with five fouls and had a technical foul as well.
Versatile forward, Rejinae Crendall, would take over as point guard for the rest of the game. Crendall would score 12 points and she also played defense as she attained a crucial steal at the end of the fourth quarter.
She helped lead her team to a 63-54 victory. When asked about her role late in the game as point guard Crendall said, "I've seen that they were coming up, and Jess was out so I had to take over. If nobody would've stepped up, I think the game would be just lost out of our hands."
Shot selection was an issue for the Corsairs for most of the game, but were soon adjusted late in the game. When asked about this, Head Coach Lydia Strong said, "The foul trouble really hurt us, but these guys fought. They got a lot of heart, and I'm really proud of the effort."
The Corsairs begin there season 2-0, and will look to continue this streak as they play again Nov. 17 against Grossmont College at Palomar College.