SAN MARCOS – Palomar women’s basketball battled back from an early deficit to secure a comfortable 77-60 win over their rivals, MiraCosta College.
Not every match can be a resounding victory like the 90-38 blowout Palomar dealt Imperial Valley on Jan. 22. MiraCosta got off to a hot start, outscoring Palomar 8-1 before Comets Head Coach Leigh Marshall called a timeout.
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“They’re coming out with all the kinds of juice and energy and getting really excited, and I felt like we weren’t responding,” Coach Marshall said, “so just letting them know it’s time to wake up, it’s time to respond and get after it and play hard.”
Palomar battled back, forcing MiraCosta to commit 10 turnovers in the first quarter. And thanks to seven points scored by Palomar guard Kylee Trujillo, the Comets led 19-17 heading into the second quarter.
The Comets never relinquished their lead, and a balanced offense and defense in the second quarter took them into halftime up by a score of 38-32.
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“I like the intensity of the game. I like the flow of the game. Just need to clean up a little bit of things, we’re fine we’re fine, we’re going to win this game,” said Manuel Cass, stepfather of Comets forward Kailani Flournoy.
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The Comets offense is known for its ability to make 3-pointers, but in the first half of the game, they failed to make a single one.
“We shoot a lot of threes, and that’s a threat, so for us to only take seven in the first half was a big drop off and showed how not dialed we were, so we talked about that a lot,” Coach Marshall said.
The Comets responded in the second half with 15 shots from beyond the 3-point line, making six.
This included one from Nevaeh Mageo, who drew a foul and converted the free throw for a rare 4-point play.
“It’s all my teammates like they believe in me and pass the ball to me and believe in me to make the shot,” Mageo said of the play, “the bench went crazy, and the energy was just there,” Mageo said.
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The momentum never left the Comets side as they outscored the Spartans 39-28 in the second half to cruise to a 77-60 victory.
Comets guard Angelina De Leon had a double-double on the night with 19 points scored and 12 rebounds, leading the team in both categories.
“I was just working hard getting to the basket and playing really hard,” De Leon said, “the first half, we were playing like pretty timid and pretty scared, but once we got comfortable with each other and once we were hitting shots it felt a lot better for us.”
The win over MiraCosta moves Palomar to 6-0 in conference matchups as the women strive to win their fourth conference championship in a row.
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“We have a target on our back, and people are coming out and giving us their best shot, so we have to be ready for that every game,” Coach Marshall said.
The team has a road matchup at San Diego Mesa College on Jan. 31 as they look to stay atop the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference.
For schedule, tickets, and team information, click here.