The San Diego Mesa College women's basketball team currently sits at .500 with a 3-3 record. They are currently in 5th place in the PCAC chasing Palomar College who is currently undefeated early in the 2022 campaign. Although it's still early, the coaching staff knows the team needs to fix the unforced errors which are causing valuable games.

With the exception of the loss against Cypress College, the games dropped against Orange Coast College and LA Valley College were both winnable. "We need to improve our rebounding and cut down on our turnovers during crucial times," states head coach Lindsay Samaniego. "We have a team that's still trying to find each other on the court and there have been instances where we are playing too fast and end up throwing the ball away. It's hard to win games when we don't take care of the ball." 

Yesterday's game against Pasadena City College was a macrocosm of how the season had been unfolding. It consisted of moments when the game could have been put away, but due to turnovers, kept providing the Lancers the opportunity to steal the game. 

Gwen Morris-Lundstrum led the Olympians with 15-points and added 6 steals. Morris-Lundstrum set the tone for the game and also hit a pair of key 3-pointers. Emma Fitzgerald also had a tremendous game which included a clutch 3-pointer with :40 seconds left that gave the Olympians a two-possession lead. "Fitzgerald gave us everything she had tonight, as she does every night, but her play tonight was exceptional," adds Samaniego. 

Mesa was holding onto a 55-53 lead late in the 4th quarter until the Lancer's Maiya Villanueva converted on a 3-point shot giving Pasadena City their first lead in the game since the 5:29 mark in the 1st quarter. The Olympians were quick to answer after a steal and lay-up by Niki Madgedi gave back the lead to Mesa 57-56 with 1:28 in regulation. 

After a couple of defensive stops, Mesa's Emma Fitzgerald converted on a crucial 3-pointer with :55 seconds left that increased the lead to 60-56. Like a heavyweight bout, the Lancers Tena Ikidi countered with a layup and continuation foul bringing the score to 58-60. After the successful free-throw, the score stood at 59-60. With :21 seconds left in the 4th, Emma Fitzgerald found Bella Terry for a clutch 2-point jump shot that extended the Mesa lead 62-59. 

With :07 seconds left in the game, the team was instructed to foul the Lancers once the ball was put on the floor. The intentional foul came late allowing Maiya Villanueva to take a shot behind the 3-point line which in turned gave the Lancers the opportunity to tie the game with three free throws. 

Villanueva converted on the first two free throws which cut Mesa's lead 62-61 with one remaining free throw to even the game. The 3rd free throw rattled off the rim, which led to a scramble for the ball which Mesa tipped out of bounds giving one last possession to the Lancers with :03 seconds left. 

Pasadena designed a baseline play which would allow Villanueva to drive to the basket. Mesa collapsed their defense in the middle forcing Villanueva to take a mid-range erred shot that bounced off the rim securing Mesa the 62-61 victory. 

Mesa College will continue their play in the Santa Ana College Tournament and are scheduled to play against Riverside College today at 6:00 p.m. Although Riverside City is not as tall as Pasadena College, they do pose a problem as Riverside is dominant inside the paint and are aggressive rebounders. The Olympians will need to perform better on rebounding as Pasadena College captured 25 offensive rebounds yesterday, compared to the 20 defensive rebounds from the Olympians.