In a back and forth battle, the Los Medanos women’s basketball team suffered a 59-48 loss to visiting Diablo Valley College and dropped to 1-5 on the season.
However, head coach Mario Pharr views the Mustang’s loss to DVC as a stepping stone in the right direction.
“It’s all about progression, and I feel like we continue to get better each and every game,” Pharr said. “It’s exciting to see. All of this is preparation for conference, and as long as we continue to keep progressing forward instead of regressing backwards, I think we’ll be ready.”
With it being Pharr’s first year as head coach and LMC not having a women’s basketball team last year, he said this year is a process of building and establishing a culture for women’s basketball on campus.
Sa’Nia White and Zoe Jones were the only two Mustangs to score double digit points against the Vikings. White had a team high 17 while Jones tallied on 14.
LMC led by as much as seven against DVC, but they also trailed by as much as 11. Fouls by the Mustangs put them behind the eight ball — especially late in the fourth quarter — and played a big role in their Wednesday night loss to the Vikings.
LMC was already missing two starters for their game against DVC and another fouled out early into the fourth quarter. In total, three LMC players fouled out against the Vikings. The Mustangs went on to be outscored 18-1 in the final quarter.
“We lost the game because of that,” Pharr said. “I really feel that because we were up seven points going into the fourth quarter, and I had one of my starters foul out early in the fourth, and it just kind of spiraled after that. It was a really tight whistle tonight, and I told the refs that personally.”
Part of the culture Pharr wants to build for his team is a “next woman up” mentality, which was put to the test Wednesday night. When bench players had to be subbed in earlier than normal, the quality of play on the floor dropped.
“When we had to sub because of foul trouble in the first half, we went down instead of staying consistent,” Pharr said. “With the main players, we’re going to have our runs. But if there’s a sub, we have to either maintain or get better. We can’t drop off that drastically and that’s what’s happened with us a few times.
The next home game for the women’s basketball team is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 12 against Butte College with a tip-off set for 5 p.m.
