By Alan Der OHANNESSIAN

The Muir Mustangs crushed the Lady Falcons 52-28 Tuesday night at CV High School in the penultimate Pacific League basketball game of the season. The Lady Mustangs improved to 13-0 in the Pacific League, the same record as their male counterparts, and are league champions. The Falcons fell to 14-11 overall and are 6-7 in league heading into today’s regular season finale at Arcadia. The playoffs will begin next week for both teams.

The Falcons came in hoping to extend their two-game winning streak after notching solid victories over Hoover and Pasadena last week.

The Falcons played catch-up right from the beginning, and struggled all night with their shooting.

The Mustangs opened the game on a 10-2 run to set the tone. Muir’s Emoni Jackson had a game-high 21 points.

Chyanne Hodges hit Jackson with a fast-break pass for a layup, followed by four points in a row by Tahniya Sweatt,  who drove through traffic and made a tough shot over the defense for a 12-3 lead.

The Falcons responded with a four-point run of their own. Lexi Mirzaian scored two free throws and followed by scoring under the basket after beautiful ball movement to reduce the gap, 12-7.

The Falcons couldn’t continue their comeback as the Mustangs made another 8-0 run to widen the gap.

Sweatt and Shaela Flynn made four free throws in a row. Furthermore, Flynn scored driving to the basket and made an extra free throw for a 20-7 lead.

In a similar scenario, the Falcons responded with five consecutive points, including a free throw by Lindsey Heckmann and a three pointer by Ella Stepanian, cutting the deficit to 22-12.

Flynn nailed a three pointer and Muir led 25-12 lead at halftime.

Whenever the Falcons made a comeback, the Mustangs rose to the challenge.  Stepanian scored in the paint along with two points from the charity stripe. Davis added another free throw to make it a 10-point ball game, 27-17.

But the Mustangs kept answering as Jackson hit a jumper over center Samira Seraji and got fouled. Also, Flynn hit two free throws and Sweatt attacked the basket and scored to extend the lead, 35-21.

The Falcons shooting struggle continued as they missed one shot after another. Jackson and Sweatt scored along with Kalyn Richards to make for a 24-point lead, 45-21.

CV  Coach Jason Perez said their loss boiled down to one problem, not making shots.

“Tonight we had a bad night shooting,” said Perez. “We missed too many open looks to beat anybody.”

The game today starts at 5:45 p.m. The Falcons beat Arcadia in January 54-42.

  ALAN DER OHANNESSIAN