On Saturday, Jan. 19, the Cal State LA women’s basketball team faced off in a California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) game against Cal Poly Pomona. Women’s Golden Eagles lost to the Broncos, 74-58.
Though the Golden Eagles never led during the game, they had early opportunities to capitalize on. Specifically, they ended the first quarter trailing by one as the Broncos led 15-14. In the second quarter, they tied the Broncos 25-25 after a three-pointer by Golden Eagles’ Madison Adams. However, this would be the closest the Golden Eagles would get as the Broncos continued to outscore them in each quarter.
“We’re just not putting it all together for 40 minutes,” said Golden Eagles’ point guard Christine Delapina. “We have spurts where we do really well on defense, but can’t convert on offensive, and then we do well on offensive but can’t get stops on defense.”
The Golden Eagles shot 31 percent from the field and 20 percent from 3-point range, while the Broncos shot 47 percent and were 33 percent from 3-point range.
Chiderah Uzowuru led the Golden Eagles in scoring with 22 points, shooting 8-of-15 on the field. Uzowuru was one rebound short of a double-double, as she picked up a total of nine rebounds and also had three steals and two assists.
With the loss, the Golden Eagles’ overall record stands at 6-10. They are currently in 11th place in the conference standings with a CCAA record of 3-9.
With only ten games left in the season, the Golden Eagles continue their push for a spot in the playoffs.
Torino Johnson, the interim head coach for the Golden Eagles is taking it “one game at a time.”
“We’ll continue to prepare for each opponents, through scouting reports, and getting out on the floor and implement the adjustments that are needed,” said Johnson.
The loss extends the Golden Eagles’ losing streak to a season-high with seven straight losses. The last time the Golden Eagles had a losing streak of this many games was during the 2014-2015 season.
Despite the losing streak, this does not affect the Golden Eagles’ game plan against their opponent.
“We try and forget about the losing streak and move on to the next game and that’s best for us to focus on a clean slate and start a new streak,” said Delapine.
Coach Johnson believes there’s an important life lesson that the team can take away from the losing streak, and that lesson for these women is to continue to compete to the best of their abilities.
The Golden Eagles look to end their losing streak against the team they last defeated—the Cal State Dominguez Hills Toros—as they travel to Carson on Jan. 26.
The last time the two teams matched up was last month on Dec. 19, when the Golden Eagles defeated the Toros, 75-65 at home, at University Gym
“It’ll be a fun game,” said Coach Johnson. “There’s a contrast in style between Dominguez and Cal State LA and something has to give. But if we keep our wits in that game, I like our chances.”
