The women’s basketball team won its fourth conference game in a row, snatching away a 56-50 victory from the Storm on Jan. 22 in the Gymnasium.

Napa Valley College (13-8 overall 5-3 in the Bay Valley Conference) came in seeking its fifth consecutive win, yet they trailed at halftime 30-25.

Contra Costa College (9-9 overall 6-2 in the BVC) boasted a larger margin of victory over its winning streak, while NVC carried more consecutive wins in a row.

Sporadic possessions plagued both teams early in the game as unforced turnovers and blown lay-ups fueled multiple substitutions (by both teams) in attempts to find the right blend of energy and focus.

“Early on we played too exited,” CCC guard Lenzie Chao said. “We weren’t running our system, our heads were all over the place and we made some bad fouls.”

The saving grace for the Comets was the higher number of unforced Storm errors.

Daizah Pounds kept her consistent scoring touch for the Comets, getting the squad on the board early by draining a two-point field goal followed by a high arching three-pointer.

Pounds led CCC in scoring at halftime with 10 points. Over course of the winning the streak, her offensive prowess early in the game has helped jumpstart the team into a winning position.

“We were cringing under pressure early. We were forcing things and not being patient,” Pounds said. “In the second half we stopped turning the ball over and giving them a chance to get easy points.”

The second half began with CCC showing a renewed defensive vigor. That energy helped extend the lead for the Comets to eight points.

This awakened the Storm and ignited a back and forth contest that almost saw both teams reach double-digit advantages.

It was then that Comet forward Jacqie Moody took control of the game. Moody got good looks in the first half but could not find her groove.

In the second half the freshman hit her stride and took advantage of the Storm’s larger and slower defenders guarding her position.

CCC assistant coach Ebony Young said, “In the second half we were in sync on defense, everyone moved fast-we worked as a team.”

Moody was the deciding factor in the game. She made NVC pay by getting to the line or scoring lay-up’s virtually every time she touched the ball down the stretch of the game.

After completing a 3-point play, Moody then stole the ball beyond half court and drove it up the length of the court to score another lay-up shortly before the buzzer sounded to end the game.

Smoothing out the edges will be important if CCC hopes to capitalize on its winning momentum on Saturday against Merritt College.