Rams dump Hawks on Valentine’s Day

3-Photo-Sports-Womens-Basketball-Khaled-Sayed-1
Rams sophomore guard Raquel Torres (10) is pressured by a Las Positas College player during a CCCAA women’s basketball game on Friday, Feb. 14, 2014, at Ocean campus. Photo by Khaled Sayed/The Guardsman

By Patrick Cochran/The Guardsman

It might have been Valentine’s Day, but City College women’s basketball team didn’t show their opponent, Las Positas College, any love.

The final score was a staggering 96-23 and the Rams dominated their opponent in every aspect of the game.

The Rams’ unrelenting 2-1-2 full court press gave Las Positas fits all night.

Unable to find any sort of offensive rhythm while turning over the ball at a high rate, the Rams made easy work of their opponent.

“Our defense was huge for us. Everyone was getting a lot of stops,” head coach Jamie Hayes said.

Sophomore forward Kiah Knox had quite possibly the most impressive night of anyone on the team. Going against a much larger opponent, Las Positas freshman center Breanna Wilson, who had a height and weight advantage, Knox was able to score a game high 20 points.

“Kiah had a great game out there, really fought hard in the paint and is not scared to go against a bigger athlete,” Hayes said. “Kiah is really good at knowing how to best go against her opponent, and tonight was the perfect example of her using all her advantage to have a great game.”

Knox was able to score in a variety of ways, sometimes posting her opponent in the paint  which is typical for her position. Other times she showed versatility in her scoring, getting the ball at the top of the key, then either pivoting or employing a stutter step to throw off the defender and driving to the basket in the other direction to make contested layups.

“Even though the person I was going against was bigger than me, I didn’t let that affect my game. We know as a team if we play hard like we did tonight we will do well,” Knox said. ” I used my smaller size to my advantage. I knew I could move around quicker than my opponent and that definitely helped with my scoring tonight.”

Rams sophomore Franeka Hall showed tremendous athleticism, including one impressive play in the second half. She blocked an opponent’s three-pointer, quickly recovered the loose ball and then threw a long outlet pass to teammate sophomore Raquel Torres who got the fast break layup.

The play showcased Hall’s savvy court vision.

After the game Hall partially credited the tremendous victory to a team meeting they had earlier in the day.

“We all met … this afternoon to have a team meeting. It really put us in the right place for this game,” Hall said. “We are more than a team. We are family.”

City College has two regular season games left, versus Chabot College Feb. 19 and Ohlone College Feb. 21.

With a 22-3 record so far, there is no reason this family can’t continue their domination into the postseason.