Monarchs squeak past West LA in a thriller

Valley College women's basketball takes down West LA College after scoring single-digits in the first quarter for the second time at home.

By Kevin Khachatryan, Staff Writer

Monarch sophomore Jordyn Jiron making a fast break against Cougars Lauren Lee on Wednesday Feb. 15. (Xavier Dubon | Valley Star)

The Monarchs started the game cold as they shot 0-23 from the court and scored all eight of their points from the free throw line; this was the first time that Valley College was held to zero points on shooting from the court.

Valley (Western State South 11-2, Overall 19-8) squeaked past West LA College (Western State South 5-8, Overall 8-18) by hitting a game winning layup from Sophomore guard Dyani Del Castillo with 20 seconds left in the game. West LA was able to outrebound Valley 44-33 and make four more shots, but the Monarchs made eight more free throws and five three-pointers on Wednesday’s action to come away with a 64-60 win.

“The game consists of 40 minutes and we believe in the process,” said head coach Monica Hang. “We knew that eventually we were going to make our shots if we wanted to make run.”

Trailing 12-8 at the end of the first quarter, the Monarchs needed a boost to get them going after they shot 0-16 from field goal and turned the ball over six times.

West LA extended their lead to six points in the second quarter. The Monarchs responded with an 11-0 run thanks to a layup from Sophomore guard Emilie Brugna and two three-pointer and a foul from Sophomore guard Jacqueline Privado to take the lead 23-18.

The Monarchs were down 18-12 with eight minutes left in the quarter, but Valley outscored the Wildcats 22-10 with Privado scoring a layup and sophomore Jordyn Jiron getting a whistle to knock down two free throws that ended the first half with a lead of 34-28.

The Wildcats cut the deficit to just two points when freshmen forward Taiana Muagututia made a layup and two free throws of her own with five minutes left in the third quarter.

The fourth quarter saw Valley force three straight turnovers that led to a three-pointer from Jiron and a jump shot from Castillo to extend the lead 59-50.

“Their defense allowed us to get some space and convert on layups,” said Hang. “Our focus is to always take the best shots available per possession.”

Shooting just 3-9 from the field and 1-4 from the three-point line, the Monarchs almost gave the game away in the final minutes of crunchtime.

With under 40 seconds left, the Wildcats turned the ball over and Jiron was able to find Castillo on the right side of the court who shot up a floater that banked in and sealed the deal for Valley 64-60.

“We’ve faced many teams who have a height advantage,” said Monica Hang. “We will continue to focus on our strengths and prepare properly against our opponent. It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”