Valley Women Ease Pace, Surge Past Bakersfield

The Valley College women’s basketball team likes to get out and go, but the Monarchs might have been a little too eager in the first half Saturday night before settling down to record a 73-57 victory over visiting Bakersfield in a Western State Conference South Division game.

Although Valley (25-4, 11-1 in conference play) made only 31 of 91 field-goal attempts, the Monarchs hit eight of 15 to start the second half with a 16-4 run that gave them a 46-28 lead before a reeling Bakersfield team called for a timeout with 13 minutes remaining.

Sophomore Rosa Mendez, who scored 20 points, powered the Monarchs’ decisive run with 14 points on seven-of-nine shooting. The 5-foot-5 guard from Roosevelt High scored eight points during the final two minutes of Valley’s run by hitting four shots in a row.

Her 15-foot jump shot from the right side gave Valley a 38-27 lead with 15 minutes to play. She followed that with a 12-footer from the right side and an eight-foot jumper in the lane. Angie Quezada’s basket gave the Monarchs a 44-28 lead and Mendez capped Valley’s surge with a nine-foot jumper from the left side.

“I just thought we were rushing everything in the first half,” Valley Coach Doug Michelson said. “We were too quick. We were out there running around like we were in a track meet instead of in a basketball game.”

The performance of Mendez served as an illustration. She was two of 11 from the field in the first half and seven of 11 in the second half before being pulled with 11 minutes left.

“We’re a quick team and we like to get out on the transition,” Michelson said. “But we just weren’t making the right decisions in the first half. We did in the second and (Rosa) took advantage of it.”

Bakersfield center Natasha Kliewer shared game scoring honors with Mendez but 12 of Kliewer’s 20 points came with the contest out of reach.

All 14 of Valley’s players scored as the Monarchs, the ninth-ranked team in the state, won their 11th consecutive game.

Forward Michelle Cabaldon had eight points and seven assists for Valley, and Pamela Starks added seven points. Center Amy Horst had six points--all in the first half--and 10 rebounds.

Brenda Hare added 12 points for Bakersfield (13-10, 7-4), which shot only 29.8% from the field and made 29 turnovers.