On November 17th, the girls basketball team faced off against Edison High School in their season opener, losing the game 51-36.

A strong and tenacious defense led the way for the Trojans with Coach Vargas complimenting their press defense as one of their best advantages coming into the game. Senior Guilia Roy led the team on a fast break after blocking a shot to try and extend the lead. She put up a layup with 14 seconds left in the quarter assisted by freshman Ai (Jenna) Miyano.

Edison started surging back in the 2nd quarter with a couple of crucial fouls giving them points from the free-throw line. These costly mistakes led to the score being tied at 9 points each with only 6:53 left in the half. Edison’s team made some momentum, making a pair of free throws as well as a 3-pointer to take the lead 14-9 with only 5 minutes left. The Trojans rallied and gained momentum leading to a midrange shot from Roy and a 3-pointer from junior Sarang Min. University and Edison were tied 18-18 at halftime. 

Coming out of the half, University emphasized aggressive defense to try and slow the Edison offense down. The strategy worked for a few minutes until Edison took the lead 28-21 with 3:15 left in the third. The game quickly became a shootout as both teams took turns scoring on each other with Edison finally gaining some distance on the Trojans. A 3-point play on a foul for Min helped UHS narrow the lead to 37-26 at the end of the third. 

The momentum was quickly capitalized on by the Trojans as in the span of 20 seconds, they scored 4 unanswered baskets and came out of a timeout with a 3-pointer from junior Amanda Amaral narrowing the Edison lead to 40-34 with only 3:21 left in regulation. University forced 14 turnovers, 7 of them blocks. They also accumulated 38 rebounds throughout the matchup. 

Edison came off a timeout with contested layups and free throws, ultimately defeating the Trojans.

The Trojans were without their star center, senior Caitlyn Hane, as she was out due to a hand injury. 

“It was a significant setback for our team,” junior Yoonah Choi said. “We had to learn to adjust to the situation and focus on our advantages.”

Although the centerpiece of their offense was missing, Yassmin Gad and Guilia Roy both netted 7 points with Choi and Min leading the team in assists with 3 each.

The struggles for University were also caused by Edison’s defense, as University suffered 28 turnovers to Edison’s 14. 

“We could’ve definitely been able to beat them, but what gave them a push was our turnovers during the third quarter,” junior Yassmin Gad said.

UHS also struggled on the offensive side as they were 27% from the field and 30% from beyond the arch. While the University defense was much better in the first half, fouls cost them momentum in the latter parts of the third quarter. Min would like to improve on that for the rest of the season. 

“I think that we can improve on knowing our playbook like the back of our hand and being more organized on both the offensive and defensive side,” Min said.

After the game, Coach Vargas responded to the offensive woes of the Trojans. 

“I think at the end of the day, it’s just really about having our players being more aggressive, attacking the basket a little bit more,” Vargas said. He also complimented Yassmin and freshman Asha Highsmith for “battling hard.”

The girls’ basketball team competed at a tournament for the remainder of the week in Los Angeles. Their next matchup after that was against Chadwick High on the 2nd of December.