Vaqueras trounce Chandler-Gilbert
By ED PETRUSKA Contributing Writer/Pinal Central

SIGNAL PEAK — The only real question for the Central Arizona College women's basketball team on Wednesday night was how massive the margin of victory would be for the Vaqueras.

It wound up being 49 points in a 78-29 drubbing of Chandler-Gilbert at the George Young Activity Center.

Central held the Coyotes to a .205 shooting percentage and converted 26 turnovers into 26 points in raising its record to 11-5 overall and 7-1 in the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference. Chandler-Gilbert (2-14, 0-8) was held to single-digit scoring in each of the final three quarters.

"The only thing I was worried about tonight was defense," CAC coach Denise Cardenas said. "We needed to pick up our defensive energy, and that's all we've been working on in practice. That needs to be our focus."
Morticia McCall made three of Central's six 3-pointers and led the Vaqueras with 23 points. Kiara Knox, the ACCAC's leading scorer with a 17.9 average, collected 16 of her 20 points in the first half. Kendra Butler had 14, with 10 coming in the second half.

The Coyotes scored 13 points in the opening period but were held to four in the second on 1-of-11 shooting, seven points in the third quarter and five in the fourth. Chandler-Gilbert went 3 for 20 from the floor in the second half.

"Defense and rebounding," Cardenas said. "It's not re-inventing the wheel. It's getting after it with attitude and effort. Good things happen when your defense is up."

After going 9 for 18 from the field in the first quarter, the Vaqueras' accuracy tailed off considerably. They finished with a .389 percentage.

That mattered little, however, as Central scored 20 or more points in all but the third period.

The Coyotes were competitive in the first four minutes, taking a 9-6 lead on Hope Frazier's basket. Then came a 12-0 CAC run that featured a pair of 3-pointers by McCall, and Chandler-Gilbert never recovered.

Knox tallied 11 first-quarter points. McCall had eight points in the first and eight in the second as the Vaqueras outscored the Coyotes 21-4 to take a 44-17 halftime lead.

The lead grew to 32 points at 51-19 on Megan Guadian's 3-pointer with 6:35 remaining in the third quarter. Another 3-pointer by Guadian put CAC up 65-25 with 7:20 to play. The Vaqueras took their largest lead, 78-28, on the second of two consecutive baskets by Jerraysha Smith with 1:37 left.

Chandler-Gilbert did not have a player score in double figures.