Lady Bulldogs defeat district rival Skyline College 68-54

Media Credit: Hansel Vargas-Machuca
Lady Bulldog Patricia Malaspina, guarded by a Skyline Trojan, looks for a teammate to pass the ball to.

Media Credit: Hansel Vargas-Machuca
After sprinting across the court in an offensive rebound, Lady Bulldog Alexis Jenkins looks for a teammate to pass the ball to.

Media Credit: Hansel Vargas-Machuca
Lady Bulldog Erica Hayes prepares to block Skyline Trojan Rachelle Hwee's attempt at a shot.

Media Credit: Hansel Vargas-Machuca
The Lady Bulldogs surround Head Coach Michelle Warner for a 30-second briefing during a time-out session.

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Sharon Ho
Issue Date: 12/14/2009

Fresh after a 73-49 win against Mission College just two days ago, the Lady Bulldogs triumphed the Skyline College Trojans on Jan. 15 with a score of 68-54 to win their second conference game of the season.

The Bulldogs dominated the game against a smaller Skyline team with a whooping 30 offensive rebounds, having just pulled off a season-best of 62 rebounds against Mission on Jan. 13.

Although the Bulldogs led the scoreboards throughout the game, a determined Skyline dogged the Bulldogs relentlessly throughout the game. The Trojans nearly overtook CSM at one point, trailing by only four points 51-47 11 and a half minutes into the second period after lagging behind CSM 35-24 at halftime.

"You have to give Skyline a lot of credit; they had a lot of focus," said Bulldog head coach Michelle Warner.

Perhaps the Trojans focused too much on trying to score, because they committed nearly half of their 35 turnovers to traveling violations, which really hurt their chances. On the sidelines, Skyline head coach Trisha Hosley was understandably upset.

Despite scoring an average of three shots for every 10 attempts, the Bulldogs played well as a team, working hard in offensive rebounds, defensive play and assists to push CSM forward.

The Bulldogs scored half of their 68 points on second, third, and even fourth-chance opportunities. A Bulldog player would miss a shot, only for a teammate to grab the ball to try for another shot, and another, and sometimes even another until they finally scored, leading to amused chuckles from the bleachers.

"We did good; we played good defense and we played good together tonight," said Bulldogs forward Patricia Malaspina, who scored 20 points, just one point shy of teammate Erica Hayes' 21 points.

"We suffered a heartbreaking loss to Skyline last year, with them scoring in the last few seconds to win the game, so it is good to win," Malaspina said. "Hopefully we'll do that again at Skyline."

In their last home match against Skyline College in February 2009, the Bulldogs lost 52-54 after a CSM three-pointer tied the score with eight seconds left only, for the Trojans to reply with a rebound shot in the last seconds of the game.

"With a rival like Skyline, we don't want to lose," said Warner. "It was good to win against a district rival."

The Bulldogs are playing against City College of San Francisco next in an away game on Jan. 20 and will be meeting the Trojans at Skyline on Feb. 5.