COD Women’s Basketball gets behind early, struggles to catch-up in loss to Spartans, 60-35

COD (0-17; 0-2) struggled from beyond the arc (0-7) and from the free throw line (9-19), but dominated in the paint, winning the rebounding war 57 to 46. Unfortunately, the Roadrunners stopped scoring with over 6 minutes left in the game and the MiraCosta Spartans of Oceanside (12-5; 1-1) handed Desert a home loss, 60-35.

The Spartans opened on a 12-0 run and after a layup by sophomore center Destiny Frazier (Blythe Palo Verde Valley), MiraCosta went on an 11-0 run, by the time the period had ended, Desert was down, 23-5.

Desert would perform much better in the second quarter, winning the quarter, 13-12, and going into the halftime break with the Spartans leading, 35-18.

Even though the Roadrunners would play a better second half, they just had difficulty closing the gap when the MiraCosta shooters went ice cold at times.

Frazier led the team, collecting her third double-double of the season, with 15 points on 5 of 10 shooting, 5 of 6 from the free throw line and grabbed 13 total boards all off of the bench. Also contributing, was sophomore starting guard Zuri Outlaw (Corona H.S.), who had nine points on 4 of 15 shooting.

Freshman starting forward Kiley Pitts (Yucca Valley H.S.) led the team in blocks again, slapping away two Spartans shot attempts and sophomore starting guard Vanessa Madera (Thermal Coachella Valley) led the team in steals with two. Sophomore starting guard Kiera Duran (Garden Grove Bolsa Grande) led the team in assists with four and added her biggest rebounding haul of the season so far, with ten total boards on the night.

The next game for Desert is Friday, when they continue Pacific Coast Athletic Conference – North Division play by hosting the San Bernardino Valley Wolverines on January 25. The last time the Roadrunners knocked off the Wolverines in Palm Desert was on February 17, 2017, where Desert won, 60-53, game starts at 5 p.m.

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For additional information, please contact the COD Sports Information Office at 760.423.6641.

Information & Story provided by COD Sports Information. Photo by Michael Leone Photography (f8leone@yahoo.com).