Basketball Game Preview: El Rancho Dons vs. Whittier Cardinals

The El Rancho Dons will face off against the Whittier Cardinals at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. El Rancho is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 50.6 points per game this season.

Whittier is facing El Rancho at the wrong time: El Rancho suffered their first home loss of the season on Friday and they're likely out for redemption. They were dealt a 52-24 defeat at the hands of the Chiefs. Having soared to a lofty 56 points in the game before, the Dons couldn't push the score so high this time.

They got a good chunk of their points from the dynamic duo of Emery Riker and Emma Gonzalez, who each put up eight points. Alexis Saucillo held things down on the boards with ten rebounds. She took the lead distributing the ball, coming up with two assists.

Meanwhile, Whittier was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their fourth straight loss. They lost to California at home by a 60-41 margin.

El Rancho will have to contain Andrea Castillo as she made an impact in Whittier's last game. She went 8 of 17 en route to 22 points and four steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Kassandra Mendoza, who posted three points along with five assists and five boards.

Whittier's defeat dropped their record down to 8-13. As for El Rancho, their loss ended a six-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 17-6.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: El Rancho has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 30.5 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Whittier struggles in that department as they've been averaging 27.9 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.

El Rancho couldn't quite finish off Whittier in their previous matchup back in January of 2024 and fell 47-44. Thankfully for El Rancho, Monica Menzies (who almost dropped a double-double on 19 points and nine steals) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.