By Matt Hickman/Sierra Vista Herald
DOUGLAS — Neither Cochise College basketball squad was able to get the pace to its up-tempo liking Wednesday night against Arizona Western College, and both fell to the visiting Matadors.
The Cochise women, who defeated Western by 31 points in Yuma in the first meeting this season, had a difficult time contending with the Matadors’ towering front court in a 63-56 loss.
“We really had a difficult time scoring,” Cochise head coach Laura Hughes said. “They did a great job defensively in a 3-2 zone that plays like switching man and we couldn’t get the ball inside.”
The Apaches converted just five field goals in the first half and trailed by eight at the break. They rallied to tie it by the three-minute mark, but costly turnovers led to easy AWC points and eventually a Matador march to the foul line.
Yvonte Neal had 19 points and was the only Cochise player in double figures. Despite the loss, the Apaches are holding on to the No. 2 seed in the ACCAC standings, which would include a home game in the region semifinals.
The Cochise men led their game at the half 39-35. By the 10-minute mark, Western had taken the lead 49-48 and continued to build on it. The Apaches got back to within five with the ball with 30 seconds to go, but couldn’t get a shot off until just 10 seconds remained, allowing Western to prevail, 66-61.
“It was a good game; they got us down the stretch,” Cochise head coach Jerry Carrillo said. “Their guard (Marvin) Whitt really dominated the game.”
Whitt scored 24 points to lead all scorers. Cochise was led by Jerry Duckworth with 15 points, Jordan Russell with 11 and Tevin Caldwell with 10.
Cochise fell to 23-4 overall and 16-3 in conference.
Both Cochise teams are at home against Glendale on Saturday, with the women tipping off at 5:30 p.m. and the men following at 7:30. Admission is free to all regular season home games.