After recently losing ten of eleven games, the Mustangs women’s basketball team won a back-and-forth game in commanding fashion over the Napa Valley Storm and has now won two out of three.

For most of the game, LMC went back and forth for the lead. The game was either tied or the lead changed every minute.

The Mustangs started off shooting well but cooled down as the game progressed. The team got hot at the right time and resumed their hot shooting as the game was coming to an end. At about five minutes left in the game, LMC put their foot on the gas and put away the game. At one point, LMC was down 51-54 with the second half coming to an end and LMC played their A-game as the final score was 73-64.

“The last five minutes we were determined to win, we didn’t want to lose again, so we came together,” said Forward Ashawnti Bloodsaw.

LMC tweaked their game plan toward the end of the game and it paid off for them.

“I knew they would be pressing so we wanted to attack their press. Once we got past them, we were able to get a lot of lay-ups at the end,” said head coach Richard Villegas.

LMC fired on all cylinders and made their coaches happy with their play.

“It was a good team effort by everybody, it was a quality win for us, we needed that,” said Villegas.

Napa Valley head coach Vince Shaw was not happy with his team’s play.

“We could have given a better effort, mentally just weren’t there, didn’t pay attention to any details, even down the stretch. That’s what happens when one team plays hard and the other team doesn’t,” said Shaw.

Villegas wasn’t the only one impressed with LMC’s play down the stretch; even Shaw noticed the hard work of the Mustangs.

“LMC played harder than we did, give them the credit, they just played harder, gotta give credit to coach,” said Shaw.

Forward Bloodsaw led the Mustangs in points with 17 and forward Keshia Ward was right behind her with 16. Guard Janessa Veronis led the way like usual with nine assists. Bloodsaw and forward Mykaela Jones each grabbed 10 rebounds.

For the Storm, guard Reana Hardin raked in the points, she had 22 on the night and forward Allana Burnham had 12 points respectively.

The women’s basketball team has been competitive, and has been in just about every game they’ve play in.

“We’re in every game at halftime, we’re right there, but then there is about three to four minutes where it’s the difference and we can’t over come it, last night that didn’t happen, “ said Villegas.

At the start of the year, standout center Myeshia Ward had a knee injury and the final decision was to medically redshirt her, so she will be back next season according to Villegas.  Along with Ward, there will be returning freshman players as well as new recruits and Villegas thinks his team next year will be loaded with talents.

LMC finished 2-6 after the first half of conference play and the team would like to go 6-2 for the second half so they can finish with a .500 record. There will be no playoff implications for the next eight games, but the Mustangs would love to play spoiler for their conference opponents.

The Mustangs sit at 2-6 in conference and 6-13 overall as they look to improve on their season. Their next home game is Jan. 31 against the College of Marin at 5:30 p.m.