Fullerton College women’s basketball team earned its first victory of the season after Coach Dan Desmond made the decision to switch their defensive style from a zone to a man-to-man defense.
In the first quarter, the Hornets fell short by five points and made turnovers such as double dribbling, traveling, and a few offensive fouls.
The Hornets made efforts to keep up with the Warriors with a steal from guard Chloe Chang and a deflection by team captain Hailey Lakey, but they couldn’t quite get ahead, leaving the score 10-9.
Things quickly turned around for the Hornets after coach Desmond called for a timeout towards the end of the quarter.
“It was disorganized at first,” said Desmond. “They probably spent a lot of time preparing for our zone, so switching to man kind of got us back into it.”
Freshman guard Femi Nodal started the second quarter strongly, hitting a three-point shot to kick things off. Soon after Chang and Erin Choi made back-to-back plays, both making threes with assists from each other, giving the Hornets their first lead of the night.
During the second quarter, refs stopped the game, calling an “administrated” technical foul due to issues regarding El Camino’s roster. Choi shot and made both technical free throws and the Hornets received possession.
The Hornets came to the second quarter with much higher energy forcing numerous turnovers on the Warriors. The Hornets gained more possessions by maintaining a high rebounding percentage on both the offensive and defensive ends.
“We did a good job boxing out getting after some loose rebounds,” said Desmond. “We had a couple kids with nine and another kid with eleven rebounds tonight.”
Warriors Christiauna Taylor was able to get a fast break, but Choi stood her ground and got the offensive foul called, forcing another turnover for the Warriors.
Hornets maintained their lead by halftime by one point with the score of 22-21.
In the second half of the game, the Hornets picked up the pace starting with Lakey receiving an assist from Choi on a fast break and Lakey quickly scoring again with another assist from Choi after a steal.
The Hornets started slowing down the tempo to run down the clock in the final quarter, forcing the Warriors to begin fouling to stop the clock. Despite the Warriors’ efforts, the Hornets gained a ten-point lead within the last three minutes and the Warriors started slowing down as well.
The Hornets picked up on the Warriors’ tempo and began beating them down the court, scoring on back-to-back fast break plays.
“I thought we played down to another team’s level instead of the level we are expected to play at,” said Desmond. “ I don’t think we executed anywhere near the level that we were capable of executing but I think that’s okay at this point in the season.”
Fullerton dominated in the second half and won 47-38 obtaining their first win of the season, putting their record at 1-1
“Unfortunately, even though I described today as a win, I also think it’s a learning opportunity,” said Desmond.
