The Los Medanos College women’s basketball team lost to the Marin Mariners with a deflating 54-61 score on February 3rd. This marks the fourth loss in a row for this multi-talented team, giving them a 10-14 record for the season.

The team loss can mostly be attributed to a lack of an offensive game plan in the later periods. Down the stretch, many plays were not executed properly, which led to some bad shot-selection moments. A saving grace for the Mustangs came from the fact that the Mariners were not able to find that offense early on either. This created a game where you have to feel as if both teams would have brought more onto the court.

The Mariners may have won the tip-off, but Busola Ayiloge forced a turnover in the first play. And for the first minute, she was scoring at will. Meanwhile, on the defensive end, Micaela Pentecostes was able to set the tone for her defensive assignment with a steal and physical defense. Everything looked good at the start of the quarter, as the Mustangs were on a 5-0 run early on. However, Victoria Claros of the Mariners was able to keep the score close. After some time and a block by Ayiloge, the first quarter ended 21-15, with the Mustangs up.

In the huddle before the buzzer into the second quarter, the Mariners coach was visibly frustrated, and loudly told her players what she expects to see in the next 10 minutes. She was talking mostly to Claros, and the Mustangs still had no answer for the offense that Claros brought into the game. By the end of the period, Mustangs were down 28-33 with only 7 points in those 10 minutes.

Coming out of the half, LMC was able to spark an 8-0 run, with Elaine Johnson getting the final shot. Ultimately, the Mariners once again found their rhythm, ending the third quarter 36-40. In the final quarter, Ayiloge started strong with layups and and-one plays, but Yusury Deleon sank a three and Claros knocked down 3 three-pointers to extend their lead. Mustangs tried to make a comeback, but it was to no avail at this point. This game was essentially over.

Despite the offensive struggles in the second half, this was not a bad showing from the women’s team. Throughout the game, the team showed heart even as they were trailing. Defensively, they weren’t allowing any easy buckets and they cleaned up the turnover problem from their last game. Granted there were some traveling violations, but this was undoubtedly a better performance.

The next home game for the women’s basketball team will be a conference game against Yuba College on Feb. 15. For more information about the women’s basketball team, visit https://www.losmedanos.edu/basketball/womens/index.aspx.