The Valley Chronicle - Lady Eagles dent Spartans’ armorng

Women’s basketball: MSJC beats MiraCosta, 100-76

[caption id="attachment_16418" align="aligncenter" width="576"] Photos by Corey Evan
Raena Lasley tries to stop MiraCosta’s Unique Fradiue from making a shot.[/caption] ■ By Corey Evan / Reporter Maintaining a winning team is hard work for any coach. But Chris Mozga has done so, maintaining a winning women’s basketball team at Mt. San Jacinto College. But would these screamin’ Lady Eagles keep their winning ways going against the visiting MiraCosta Lady Spartans on Friday, Feb. 8? The Eagles got off to a rocky start in the first quarter, gaining an early lead before the Spartans turned it into a see-saw battle. The Spartans took over the lead briefly, but the Eagles got it back toward the end of the quarter. But with a score of 31-20, the Spartans were ready to challenge the Eagles’ lead. [caption id="attachment_16419" align="alignleft" width="300"] Assistant Coach Fontay Mozga gives pointers to her reserve players. Yes, Fontay wears heels to the games.[/caption] The Eagles began to find their stride in quarter two, putting a more comfortable distance between themselves and the girls in blue. They would leave MiraCosta seeing red at halftime, in the form of a 61-41 deficit. Third quarter saw the reds and blues draw level on offense and defense, with the Jac improving their lead by one mighty point to 83-62. The Spartans spearheaded one last effort to close the gap in the final quarter, but the Eagles wouldn’t have it and shut them down with a final score of 100-76. Coach Chris Mozga says this game is a big improvement over the last time the Lady Eagles played MiraCosta in January: “We really made shots, and it’s a lot easier to win when you make shots! MiraCosta’s a good team, so I feel like hopefully we’re improving. We played them two-and-a-half weeks ago down there and only won by three.” Chynna Cochran led the Eagles on scoring, bringing in 17 points as well as a trio of rebounds and a pair of assists. Aly Murray had 14 points, but led in rebounds with four. Julia Iman and Savannah Beasley each dropped in 13 points. With just two season games left, MSJC are now 5-0 in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference North Division, 21-6 on the season. The Spartans have totals of 2-3 in PCAC South Division, 15-7 total. The Lady Eagles will close out regular season play at home on Feb. 22.