Corsairs Women’s Basketball Hold on To Defeat Bakersfield 78-67

Forward #23 Kennedy Martin makes an attempt for a layup, as she is covered by a Bakersfield defender from their matchup on January 8, 2020.(Photo by Conner Savage/Caption by Deshawn Pouper/The Corsair)

Santa Monica College Guard #4 Camryn McMahan advancing the ball across halfcourt.(Photo by Conner Savage/Caption by Deshawn Pouper/The Corsair)

Santa Monica College Center #34 Nina Gazzo wins the tipoff to start the game vs Bakersfield January 8, 2020.(Photo by Conner Savage/Caption by Deshawn Pouper/The Corsair)

Coming off of a 2-game losing streak, the Santa Monica College (SMC) Corsairs were looking to get back on track in their conference opener against Bakersfield City College on SMC’s home court on Jan. 8. The Corsairs fell behind early 0-4, but after a timeout by Head Coach Lydia Strong they were able to go on a run and take the lead 9-7. Early on SMC defense was able to get some key turnovers, and turn those into fast break points. In fact, to end off the first quarter the Corsairs lead 31-12 due to a lot of the points they were able to score off of turnovers.

Bakersfield fought their way back into the game, cutting SMC lead to six points mid-way through the second quarter, but still ended up trailing by eight at the half. The Renegades started to find some success offensively when Nina Gazzo got into foul trouble, and the Corsairs were forced to go into a smaller lineup. To start off the fourth quarter SMC got careless with the ball, committing turnovers and therefore helping the Renegades pull within four points. The Corsairs made adjustments, getting to the free throw line and earning easy points to hold on to their lead.

SMC showed determination to beat Bakersfield, while also exercising some resiliency and mental toughness as they played without one of their best players, Chassen Gutierrez, for the majority of the game. Gutierrez was very much limited due to illness, and only played one minute out of the entire game.

This win moves the Santa Monica College Corsairs Women’s basketball 2019-2020 team to 7-8 on the season, as they are on pace to have a better win/loss record than the previous year. Head Coach Strong sees differences in her team this year that have enabled the Corsairs to surpass last years’ team record.

“I forgot about last year…”, Strong jokingly commented, but went on to credit the team size for having a better year. “We have some tall girls, we got to get better with the rebounding, but our size and depth.” The Corsairs Women’s team next matchup is against 6-8 College of the Canyons on Jan. 11, which will also be a rematch from earlier in the season at the Ventura College Invitational, SMC lost 71-67.