Sophomore Darshana Taafua (Western HS) posted game highs of 16 points and seven rebounds to help lead the Long Beach City College women's basketball team to a 73-51 win over visiting Santa Ana College in its home opener on Tuesday at the LBCC Hall of Champions Gym.
Long Beach, ranked No. 3 in the preseason Southern California poll, trailed midway through the first half before rallying to take the lead for good. Down 13-14 at the 7:42 mark, the Vikings responded with a 10-0 run that was fueled by back-to-back three-pointers by sophomore Janissa Zagal (Kennedy HS). LBCC went on to outscore Santa Ana 17-4 to close out the first half to lead 30-18 at the break.
But in the second, Taafua took over. The returning all-state center had six of the Vikings' first 10 points to open the half.
Long Beach led by 19 points (45-26) before the Dons put together a rally to cut the Vikings' lead down to just nine points at 47-38 after a Lisa Tran three-pointer at the 9:08 mark. But LBCC responded with another run, this time a 10-3 streak to put the game out of reach for good.
Zagal came off the bench to score 11 points, while freshman Jessica Njoku (Narbonne HS) had seven points and seven rebounds. Freshman Kayla Sii (Lakewood HS) added four points, six rebounds, and four assists.
For Santa Ana (0-2), Jamease Paige led with 13 points.
Long Beach returns to action this weekend (Nov 14-16) when it will compete at the Rose City Classic tournament hosted by Pasadena City College. The Vikings open play on Friday at 6 p.m. against Southwestern College.
