Takenaka and Sanderson Pace Warriors in Win over Chaffey

TORRANCE, Calif. --- Piper Takenaka shot a near-perfect percentage and Jaden Sanderson had a solid overall game as El Camino College downed visiting Chaffey, 59-53, in a non-conference contest Friday night at the ECC Gymnasium.

Takenaka was on fire from the field for the Warriors (1-1) on Friday night as she led all scorers with 20 points. She went 7-for-8 from the field and 5-for-5 from beyond the arc in 25 minutes off the bench. She also added six rebounds and three assists.

Sanderson logged a team-high 35 minutes and was just as efficient from the field, going 6-for-7 and hit her only 3-pointer to finish with 13 points. She also added a team-high nine rebounds and added two assists, two blocks and one steal.

For the Panthers (1-2), Elyanna Rios led the way with 18 points in 33 minutes of action before fouling out in the fourth quarter.

The Warriors jumped out to a huge lead in the first half, leading 29-10 with 7:22 left in the second quarter. The team would go into the break with a 20-point advantage and they needed every inch of that lead as the Panthers outscored ECC 36-22 in the second half.

Despite the final margin of victory, the Warriors' were never in much danger of losing the lead they built as the Panthers did not cut the ECC lead to single digits until there was 1:13 left in regulation as a Brianna Medrano 3-pointer made it 59-51 ECC.

Medrano would hit another jumper with five seconds left but that was the end of the scoring for the night.

The turnover bug bit the Warriors again on Friday as they turned the ball over 25 times for the second straight game. The miscues led to 25 points for the Panthers.

The Warriors did outrebound their opponent for the second straight contest as they held a 49-39 edge in the category. The Warriors also dished out 17 assists on 21 makes on the night.  

The Warriors will hit the road for their lone contest next week as they face Fullerton with a 6 p.m. tipoff.