Viking Women's Basketball Spoils Early Lead against Mt. SAC, Drops Two in Kiwanis Tournament

The Long Beach City College women's basketball team competed in the Kiwanis Tournament over the Thanksgiving weekend that featured two contests against Ventura College and Mt. San Antonio. The Vikings dropped both contests with the closest contest coming in a 61-67 defeat to Mt. SAC.

Prior to being edged by Mt. SAC, Long Beach fell to Ventura by the final score of 49-78. The Vikings saw a trio of players in double-digit scoring with freshman guard Tiana Augustus, sophomore forward Ayerjenee Jeanmard, and sophomore guard Vivian Hernandez each finishing with 12 points. Jeanmard also chipped in five assists and pocketed two steals.

After the defeat, the Vikings looked to hop back into the win column against Mt. SAC in the second game of the tournament.

The Vikings were slow to start in the opening frame by allowing the Mounties to kick off the contest on an 8-0 run. Freshman forward Brittnay McDaniel snapped the streak with a layup four minutes into the game. She continued to cart the hot hand by converting an and-one play followed by a jumper from Augustus to trim the lead to three points at 7-10.

Freshman guard Clarissa Rodriguez brought the score to 11-12 seconds into the second quarter by drilling a three pointer in which sophomore center Miranda Martinez assisted on. After Jeanmard pocketed a steal on the ensuing defensive stand, she dished out an assist on the fast break to Rodriguez who kissed two points off the glass to grab their first lead of the game.

Rodriguez continued to make offensive waves by hitting a three-pointer followed by five-consecutive points from Jeanmard. Augustus and Jeanmard combined for 11 points to finish off the second half leading to a sizable 34-25 advantage at halftime.

The Vikings continued to put points on the board early in the second half by maintaining big lead with Martinez hitting a jumper to kick off second-half action. McDaniel was active by recording a layup and notching two points from the charity stripe late in the third quarter, followed by a jumper from Augustus. Jeanmard capped off the scoring for the Vikings with a layup under a minute remaining, but the Mounties trimmed the Long Beach lead to 48-41 entering into the final 10 minutes of regulation.

Despite holding the lead for the majority of the contest, Mt. SAC took the lead at 48-50 with eight minutes remaining due in part to a Viking's turnover. Jeanmard tied the game up twice at 50-all and 52-on consecutive possession with layups, but the Mounties rattled off an 11-4 run en route to a 61-67 defeat.

Jeanmard had a well-rounded contest by dropping a game-high 22 points to go along with six rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Augustus backed her with 17 points while pocketing three steals.

McDaniel led the bench brigade with 11 points that included a flawless 5-for-5 from the free throw line.

The Vikings (5-4) will compete in the Irvine Valley Tournament starting December 8th with the opening-round contest against Grossmont at 11 a.m. on the road.