Jazmine Johnson reaches up for the tip in the Dons home opener against Long Beach City College. (Photo courtesy of Tony McAndrew)
Jazmine Johnson reaches up for the tip in the Dons home opener against Long Beach City College. (Photo courtesy of Tony McAndrew)
November 12, 2013

Dons Drop Home Opener to Visiting Long Beach City College 78-53

Ashley Whisler led the way with 20 points in a losing effort as the Dons dropped their home opener after starting the season 2-0 on the road.

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SANTA ANA - The Dons suffered their first loss of the season as Long Beach City College defeated the Dons 78-53 in Santa Ana's home opener. The Dons drop to 2-1 on the season while Long Beach stays undefeated with an early 2-0 record.

The Dons came back from an early 5-2 deficit as Ashley Whisler hit a pair of free throws before converting a layup to put the Dons up 6-5 before the Vikings used a Shakeena Benton three-pointer to go back on top 8-6. Carly Ducat would then get a layup of her own to tie the game at 8-8 but Long Beach would reclaim the lead at 11-8 on a Regina Romain three.

Jazmine Johnson would hit a pair of free throws to cut the Vikings lead to 11-10, but that would be the closest the Dons would get for the remainder of the game. Long Beach used a 9-1 run to go up 20-11 before taking a 30-19 lead into the half.

Long Beach would continue by double digits throughout the second half, and would even take a 30-point lead at 55-25. Ultimately, the Vikings would win by 25 points at 78-53.

Ashley Whisler led the Dons in defeat with a game-high 20 points, representing the only Don scorer in double digits. The Vikings, on the other hand, were led by three scorers in double digits including Abbey Goodsell and Benton with 11 points apiece while Darshana Taafua chipped in 10 points.

The Dons travel to the Santa Barbara Tournament next where they will face Solano College in the first game on November 21 with a 2:00 p.m. start time.