A rough start for women’s basketball

Sophomore star Nyadoup Lam leads the Knights through the tournaments to begin the season

Aldo Ramírez

The San Diego City College women’s basketball team began their season last month by competing in the Moorpark Santa Barbara Crossover Tournament and the Saddleback Tournament.

On Nov. 14, the Knights faced Moorpark College, and with 48 rebounds and 14 turnovers they ended up losing 58-68.

Following the team’s loss, the Knights played against Santa Barbara City College on the second day of the Moorpark Santa Barbara Crossover on Nov. 15.

The Knight lost the game against Santa Barbara 72-75, but shot 60 percent from the free throw line by going 24 for 40. The Knights performed well in their first two games to start the season but were unable to get a win and ended the Santa Barbara Crossover Tournament with a 0-2 record.

In the Saddleback Tournament on Nov. 20, the Knights competed against East Los Angeles College. This time, the team went 30 for 40 from the free throw line but still lost 64-83.

In the game, sophomore forward/center Nyadoup Lam scored 24 points and grabbed a total of 19 rebounds.

On Nov. 21, they played against San Diego Mesa College and earned their first victory against the Olympians with a final score of 68-43. Lam led the Knights to victory by scoring 26 points, 16 rebounds, and went nine for 14 from the field.

In the last game on Nov. 22, the Knights played against Southwestern College. The Knights lost 51-74. In the loss, the team recorded a total of 53 rebounds but unfortunately had 22 turnovers in the game.

The Knights now hold an overall record of 1-4, and although there is still a long way for the season to end, the Knights see these tournaments as experiences that can help build a better team, since these past games have helped serve to analyze and find out their strengths in order to make a better performance in the future.

“If we go again we can make our free throws, play together, decrease our turnovers and talk to each other a lot,” sophomore point guard Darrian Castillo said when asked about their performance at the Santa Barbara Crossover.

The players also said they felt a lack of communication on the team, which affected their performance in these past games, and will look to improve on that during practice in order to find comfortability as a team.

“It all starts in practice,” said sophomore guard Daniesha Davis. “We were all comfortable on the court but it was almost as if we didn’t know how to play together.”

On Dec. 12-14, the Knights will host the Knights Colbert Classic at the Harry West Gymnasium. Then they will travel north to compete in the San Francisco Tournament on Dec. 19-21, and they will finish the year by participating in the Sequoias Crossover Tournament.

In 2015, the Knights will continue to play Pacific Coast Athletic Conference games.