Fudge leads in playoff win

The Lancers defeated Irvine Valley College in Friday night’s matchup at Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium with a score of 76-55.The game was part of the semifinal round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs for the California Community College Athletic Association Women’s Basketball State Championships. Pasadena’s 2008-09 squad won the title last season.

PCC (24-4, 6-2) dominated the second half with ease and was able to hold off the Lasers (20-8, 6-6), despite a shaky end of the first half.

Lancers guard Melissa Fudge was a stand-out on offense, despite a scare in the second half when she was sent flying into the water cooler as a result of a foul by Lasers guard Ivy Melo.

Fudge was slow to get up, but later returned to the game to cap off her 23 point, four steal night.

Fudge is also an All-South Coast Conference player on the PCC women’s soccer tem.

Irvine Valley could not seem to make their shots fall, which led to a slow start for them.

The Lancers played very aggressive defense and implemented a fast passing game to wear out the opposition and hold the Lasers to a 40 percent field goal shooting average.

Although they dominated the second half, the Lancers found themselves struggling to keep their lead in the first half.

It wasn’t until about ten minutes into the game that Irvine Valley finally found a rhythm and gave the Lancers a close game, thanks to Lasers center DJ Butler’s last minute lead-stealing shot before the half was over.

“They had a lot of screens and back cuts and back screens. We just had to execute on our offense.we could’ve done a little better on defense,” said Fudge.

Head Coach Joe Peron agreed, adding “We were giving them a little too much at the wrong time and that got them some easy points.”

PCC came back after halftime ready to play, though.

“We had to calm down and not give them so much and after we did, we played some solid defense,” said Peron. “We gambled and we played solid defense.”

Lancers guard Kim Smith and center Dominique Scott each scored 16 points, with Scott dominating in the paint, and ending with a game-high with 14.

Smith led the game with seven assists while Lasers guard Erika Garcia led the Lasers with six. Smith leads the entire team in assists for the season with 89.

A commanding 74-64 victory over San Joaquin Delta College last season secured the first women’s basketball state championship for PCC.

Should the Lancers win this Saturday’s game, it will be Coach Peron’s seventh consecutive trip to the CCCAA Final Eight tournament with the team.

Peron said of the upcoming game, “We’ll play a little better, a little smarter on our defense. We’ll keep improving on our rebounding.”

PCC will play fifth-ranked Riverside College for a spot in the finals on March 6. Riverside comes off of a 22-8 record and is second in the Orange Empire Conference