Dons fight off late Roadrunner surge in game 1

WOMEN BASKETBALL: Dons vs. College of the Desert.
GAME DATE: Thursday, November 29, 2012.

— Dons fight off late Roadrunner surge in opening game of SAC Tournament.

Sophomore Berlin Ohanesian scored 17 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and pocketed four steals Thursday night, in the Dons’ 60-55 win over visiting College of the Desert.

“We had good ball movement tonight and it lead me to the basket,” Ohanesian said.

At one point the Dons held an 18-point lead, but that was cut to three by the Roadrunners with less than 90 seconds left in the game.

“We did enough to stop them,” Head Coach Flo Luppani said.

The Dons next play Merced College. The Lady Devils won 74-48 over Mira Costa College in Merced’s first game of the tournament.

In the last eight minutes of the game, the Roadrunners (2-5) went on a 16-6 run.

Ohanesian and freshman point guard Ashley Whistler combined for more than half of the Dons’ points. Whistler scored 16 points, adding with five assists and five rebounds.

A strong early tempo helped the Dons’ head into the locker room with a 10-point halftime lead, 31-21.

Throughout the game the Dons (4-3) ran a full-court press, leading to transition points on 24 Desert turnovers.

“We weren’t prepared for the kind of defensive pressure they exhibited,” College of the Desert Head Coach Skip Parry said. “It took us a while to adjust to it.”

Some of the Roadrunners’ critical errors happened because of lazy passing and not playing smart basketball, Parry said.

The win was the first game for the Dons in the 2012 Santa Ana College Tournament.

The Dons continued tournament play Friday at 8 p.m.