No. 14 Lady Chargers Claim Share of OEC Title

CYPRESS, CA – The Cypress College women's basketball team (21-6, 9-1 OEC) took care of business at home with a 72-55 victory over Saddleback College (20-8, 7-3 OEC) on Friday's Sophomore Night. The Lady Chargers have guaranteed themselves a share of the 2017 Orange Empire Conference Title. However, to complete their goal of becoming back-to-back outright champions, they will need another victory and/or a Saddleback loss with 2 conference games remaining.

Sylvia Garcia led the way for Cypress with her third double-double of the season, recording 20 points and 10 rebounds.  Garcia added 4 assists and 4 steals in just 19 minutes of action. Bianca Silva and Joi Bertrand answered the call against Saddleback's bigs. Silva finished with 10 points and Bertrand added 8 points with 4 blocked shots.

Janae Omusi led the Gauchos with a game-high 25 points and 13 rebounds.

The Chargers came out firing and put this one away early, feeding off the energy of a packed house in Gym II. Cypress opened the game with a 17-2 run and never looked back, taking a 40-23 lead into halftime. The Gauchos struggled mightily from long-range, as they finished 3-of-29 from deep. The Lady Chargers capitalized on long rebounds and 21 Saddleback turnovers to get easy looks on offense. Cypress' lead grew to 22 points in the third quarter as they would avenge their lone loss in conference play this season with a 17-point victory.

Women's basketball will return to action on Tuesday, Feb. 14 at 7:00 p.m. when they travel to take on the Riverside Tigers.

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