Poor Second Half Dooms Warriors against Irvine Valley

TORRANCE, Calif. – El Camino College played a solid first half against visiting Irvine Valley on Friday night, but a second half drought proved costly in a 62-40 loss Friday night at the ECC North Gym.

The Warriors (1-4) were outscored 34-17 in the second half by the Lasers (7-0) after shooting 6-for-23 in the second half and 3-for-11 from beyond the arc.

Ashley Nguyen and Alexia Mason led the Warriors offense with 10 points apiece. Nguyen added five rebounds, five assists and three steals with Mason hauling in five boards in the loss.

Anai Washington led the Lasers with 17 points while Morgan Higgins added 14 and seven assists. Kaitlyn Luu added 13 points and eight rebounds in the victory.

The Warriors never led but kept the game close in the first half. The Lasers jumped out in front with a 7-0 scoring run to start the game but the Warriors chipped away at the deficit and eventually tied things up at 23-23 after Nguyen made a pair of free throws with 2:24 left in the half.

But the Lasers would close out the half on a 5-0 run and then opened the third quarter with six straight points to take a 34-23 lead and they never looked back. The Warriors didn't score until the 6:59 mark of the third, a drought that spanned 5:25 of game time.

The Warriors will return to action on Wednesday night as they host Glendale for a non-conference game. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m.