GLENDALE, CA- #12 Cypress Chargers women's basketball (20-10) traveled to #5 Glendale College (19-7) for Round 2 of the CCCAA SoCal Regional Playoffs. The Chargers were seeded as the underdog, but came to play as they defeated Glendale in OT on a last second shot by Tanya Carbajal. Cypress advances to face #4 Palomar College (25-2) on Saturday, March 5th at 7pm in the SoCal Regional Final.
Malia Goldsmith led the Chargers offense with 22 points and was a stud on the glass with 12 rebounds. Thao Truong made some big shots down the stretch totaling 13 points to go along with her 3 steals. Jaylene Oviedo matched Truong with 13 points off the bench.
Cypress paced the game as they led by two points after the first quarter, 15-13. The Chargers full-court press began to create havoc for the Vaqueros as Cypress stretched their lead to as many as ten points in the second quarter. Jesni Cooper of Glendale sunk a three-pointer to finish the first half and cut their deficit to six.
After playing even in the third quarter, Cypress opened the 4th quarter with eight straight points. The Chargers eight point lead with 1:30 to play was all but safe as the Vaqueros knocked down back to back three-pointers to stay in the game. Malia Goldsmith sunk 1-of-2 free throws to give Cypress a three-point lead with 7 seconds to play.
Glendale had one possession to extend the game, but Cypress tipped a pass out of bounds leaving 0.4 seconds on the clock and an inbound play at the baseline. The inbound pass was sent to the corner and Jesni Cooper was fouled shooting a three-pointer. Cooper calmly knocked down all three free throws to send the game to OT.
Glendale scored the first basket of the OT period, but Cypress would rattle off four straight points to take a two point lead. Kayla Wrobel made a layup to tie the game at 68 with 12 seconds to go. Malia Goldsmith drove to her right and took a floating jump shot that just missed and was rebounded by Patricia Lantin. Lantin passed the ball out to Tanya Carbajal who sunk a 12-foot jumper that would soon be known as the shot of the season. After an unsuccessful full court heave, Cypress won in thrilling fashion, 70-68.
UP NEXT: Cypress advances to face #4 Palomar College (25-2) on Saturday, March 5th at 7pm in the SoCal Regional Final.
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