Shorthanded Huskies Jump to 2-0 Start with Wins Over Halloween Weekend

by Cerwin D Haynes

It's impressive enough that East LA College women's basketball was able to net a pair of season-opening wins a Riverside City College's tournament last weekend. Even moreso that they did it with only six players on Friday and seven available on Saturday.

Call it the Bruce Turner Special: winning tournament road games short-handed. Coach Turner believes in getting his team reps in these gritty situations to develop their mental toughness for when conference play rolls around.

Here are quick recaps of those two games from Riverside:

Friday, October 31. ELAC 84, LA Harbor 68

After a tight first half that saw ELAC ahead 36-32 at the break, the Huskies came out of halftime firing on all cylinders—outscoring Harbor 25-21 in the third and 23-15 in the fourth to pull away down the stretch. Sophomore G Moriah Mosley led the charge with 26 points on a blistering 8-of-14 shooting, adding four rebounds and three assists while going 8-for-10 from the free-throw line. Freshman G Jocelyn Garcia delivered one heck of a collegiate debut, notching a double-double with 18 points, 11 rebounds while adding 6 assists, and 7 steals—a true two-way performance that set the tone for ELAC's pressure defense.

Inside the paint, sophomore C Olivia Paramo gt the start and dominated the paint with a 15-rebound, 14-point double-double effort. Another newcomer G, Alisson Davile, rounded out the Huskies' potent starting five with 19 points, including four made threes that stretched Harbor's defense and helped break the game open.

As a team, East L.A. shot 41% from the field and 42% from three-point range, while holding Harbor to just 18% from deep. The Huskies also won the rebounding battle 51-41 and shared the ball effectively, tallying 19 assists on 30 made baskets.

Saturday, November 1. ELAC 62, Riverside CC 55

The Pack was snared in a defensive struggle with the host Tigers, with neither team shooting above 30% for the game. Yet, the Huskies leaned on their interior strength and defense for the gritty win. 

After a close first quarter, ELAC surged ahead in the second, outscoring Riverside 12–6 to take a 29–21 halftime lead. The Huskies maintained their edge through the second half, answering every Riverside run with key buckets and clutch free throws to seal the win. Sophomore F Sarah Ramos powered the Huskies with a monster 24-point, 16-rebound double-double, dominating inside on both ends of the court. Mosley again made her impact on the court, with 14 points and 7 rebounds, attacking the rim and hitting enough key free throws late to keep RCC at bay.

Paramo had her second huge rebounding afternoon — 17 boards to go with 5 points and 3 assists. Sophomore PG Kayla Buffington, making her season debut in this one, provided a spark off the bench with 9 points and 7 rebounds.

HUSKY BITS

• The addition of Buffington is a huge boost to Coach Turner's squad this season. She was the 2023-24 South Coast Conference Freshman of the Year for the South Division while at LA Southwest College that year.

UP NEXT:

The Huskies are already up at Moorpark for the next few days, making their annual appearance at the We Are Moorpark Invitational. They take on the host Raiders today at 5pm.