It has been an up-and-down ride to the 2013-’14 season for the Bakersfield College women’s basketball team, due to their youth and inconsistency.
The Renegades (8-13, 3-4 Western State South Conference) got off to a slow start this season, losing six of their first seven games, but during the Winter break, they started to click. They got to an 8-10 overall record and got to 3-1 in the WSC South, but since then they have lost the past three games.
They find themselves fifth in the conference with five games left in the season.
“We were doing great when we came back from winter break, in which we had gone 6-2, but now we’ve picked up three more losses,” BC coach Paula Dahl said.
“We just need to regroup and get back on track. We started slow, but around Christmas we came on strong and we’ve looked fantastic. The last three games have thrown a wrench in the works, but that’s what it’s all about. Going back to continue to work and teach, and one of the things we’ve done every day is continued teaching and helped them grow. We are a really young team and we will get there, so I’m excited with the potential for this team,” she said.
On Feb. 1, BC was routed by Los Angeles Valley 70-51 due to an abysmal day shooting the ball. The Renegades shot 22 percent for the game, while the Monarchs shot just under 42 percent for the game.
Although the Renegades shot 25 percent in the first half, they were only down by seven going into halftime because of their significant edge on the offensive glass. BC had 12 more offensive rebounds, but they couldn’t take advantage of the extra scoring opportunities and as the game wore on the Renegades bad shooting caught up with them.
“We competed with them on every level, but we just didn’t make any shots,” said Dahl. “We shot 22 percent to their 42 percent from the field, and you can’t win ball games when you shoot 22 percent.
“L.A. Valley did a fantastic job of managing the clock at the end. They did the isolation play between [Chelsea Rhamdeow] who can drain the three and [Ajai Ford]. We made some adjustments, but we just couldn’t put the ball in the hole. We had some great shots but they just didn’t fall for us and that’s kind of been our nemesis all year.”
Guard Leigha Moland led BC with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Forward Nakia Page added 14 points and eight rebounds.
Monarchs’ forward Landon Junious-Reliford led with 14 points, nine rebounds and had six of the team’s seven blocks. Forward Myangel Johnson added 11 points and a game-high 18 rebounds.
On Jan. 29, BC fell to Antelope Valley College 77-68 because of a huge rebounding advantage for the Marauders.
The Renegades were outrebounded 56-35, including by 12 more offensive rebounds. Antelope Valley also had an advantage in three-point-shots made. The Marauders went 8 for 25, while the Renegades went 1 for 9.
“I should’ve put us in a man to man sooner,” said Dahl. “We did a horrible job of closing out on [Mikeisha Moore], and we should’ve face guarded her because she had six threes and that just killed us and we didn’t box out. I don’t think we boxed out once, and they just obliterated us on the boards and that was the ball game.”
Moland led BC in scoring with 17 points and added eight rebounds. Antelope Valley guard Moore had a game-high 22 points and nine rebounds.
“I just want us to end strong,” she said. “I still would like us to get to .500, and I think we have that opportunity. We just need to focus on the little things and continue to get better. We need to focus on boxing out, on running the floor, moving our feet on defense and just keep developing the fundamentals.”
BC’s next scheduled game is at West L.A. College at 5 p.m. on Feb. 5, followed by an away game at Citrus College on Feb. 8. They will round out the season with home games against Santa Monica College on Feb. 12, Glenadale College on Feb. 15, and Antelope Valley College on Feb. 22.