With a conference title seemingly in its grasp, the visiting Pasadena City College women's basketball team watched in disbelief as Mt. San Antonio's Mina Guevera-Goss sank a 3-pointer with 1:19 left to erase a Lancers lead and helped the Mounties capture the 2020 South Coast Conference North Division crown, 50-46, Friday night. PCC will have to wait another year to break a streak of now 13 straight years without a conference title.
Pasadena (18-8) finished in a tie for second place in the always difficult SCC North at 5-3 (with Rio Hondo), two of those losses coming in defensive battles against Mt. SAC, the state's #8-ranked team at 21-7 and a 6-2 mark to complete its first title in three years.
The Lancers led 18-17 after the first quarter as Dariel Johnson hit a driving layup at the period buzzer. Johnson had started PCC's scoring with back-to-back, 3-point bombs. Mt. SAC limited the Lancers to just six points in the second quarter to take a 27-24 halftime lead. PCC cut that advantage to one, 37-36, after three quarters.
In the fourth quarter, Mt. SAC led 45-39 before the Lancers went on a 6-0 run behind a 3-pointer by Lizette Espinoza, a 12-foot bank by Merina Latu, and single free throws by Johnson and Cosette Balmy. The Balmy free throw gave PCC a 46-45 lead, but with 3:23 to go, it would end up being the team's final point. Guevera-Goss, who led Mt. SAC with 14 points, then hit an open trey near the top of the circle for what proved to be the winning bucket at 48-46.
Johnson, a sophomore forward, totaled 18 points, 19 rebounds, four blocks and four steals as she did her best to keep PCC close all contest. Balmy added 11 points, four assists and three steals. Pasadena also received a strong effort by freshman forward Kristal Espinoza, who scored eight points and added five rebounds. Kaniya Hill provided strong defense off the bench with four steals to go with a basket.
PCC hurt itself with poor free throw shooting overall, making 6-for-15 (40 percent) while Mt. SAC was 9-for-14.
The Lancers will await word on the upcoming playoff seedings as they expect to host a Southern California Regional First Round game next Friday or Saturday. As of the time of the release, PCC was #5 in region RPI behind #1 Moorpark, #2 Ventura, #3 Mt. SAC and #4 Palomar.