No. 25 SCC Pulls Rank and Rolls Past Concordia

Southern California College celebrated its first appearance in the NAIA women’s basketball national rankings with a victory Tuesday at Concordia.

In a battle of conference unbeaten teams, SCC, ranked 25th in the nation, soundly defeated defending conference champion Concordia, 66-55, in a Golden State Athletic Conference game.

Amee Pina had 22 points and five assists to lead an SCC attack that made 23 of 45 (51%) from the field. Pina made all four of her three-point attempts and made seven of eight from the field for SCC (18-4, 5-0 in conference).

Senior center Elaine Whittemore also had the hot hand, making nine of 11 from the field to finish with 21 points and seven rebounds for the Vanguards (17-4, 3-1). Whittemore surpassed the 1,000-point plateau and has 1,001 points in her career.

Whittemore and forward Gina Jojola (11 points) took advantage of Concordia (16-5, 3-1) inside since the Eagles were playing without 6-foot-3 senior center Heather Carll.

Carll, who averages 15 points and 11 rebounds, suited up for the game but had her right knee heavily taped because of a pulled anterior cruciate ligament. Concordia Coach Greg Dinneen said Carll has not worked out with the team since she injured her knee Jan. 17 in a 66-53 victory over Azusa Pacific.

“She’s still out indefinitely,” Dinneen said. “I don’t know when she’ll be back.

“It was painfully obvious she would have been a go-to player for us tonight and she could have taken a lot of pressure off her teammates.”

Priscilla Bendik filled in for Carll and had 11 points, Jamie Gast had 20 points and six rebounds and Allison Fortner had 12 points, making four of nine from three-point range.

Overall, however, the Eagles struggled.

“This was the wrong game to have a bad shooting night,” said Dinneen, whose team shot 32% from the field. “We got the shots we wanted, but give SCC credit. They made us shoot too quickly.”

In Golden State Athletic Conference men’s basketball:

Southern California College 83, Concordia 79--After being tied at halftime, the Vanguards steadily pulled away in the second half, leading by as many as 14. Dennis Keane scored 20 points, Adam Dzierzynski had 17 points and eight assists, and Justin McIntee had 17 points for SCC (14-9, 3-2).

Paul Bettencourt had 18 points, making all four of his three-point attempts for the Eagles (11-11, 2-3), who shot 61% from the field in the first half. Kalim Scott added 17 points and nine rebounds for Concordia.

In nonconference men’s volleyball:

UC Irvine 3, Princeton 0--Kevin Dake had 42 assists and seven digs as UC Irvine defeated Princeton, 15-3, 15-7, 15-4. Mike Rupp had 19 kills and Gabe Burt had eight blocks for the host Anteaters (4-0).