Preview: Arleta Mustangs vs. Los Angeles CES Unicorns
Two dominant guards in Aaliyah Serpas and Katie Chiba are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Arleta Mustangs will take on the Los Angeles CES Unicorns at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday. Arleta will be looking to extend their current seven-game winning streak.
With a playoff game on the line, Arleta rose to the challenge on Thursday. They put the hurt on the Rams with a sharp 52-31 victory. Arleta has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 14 matchups by 21 points or more this season.
It was another big night for Serpas, who scored 19 points along with seven assists and seven rebounds. She has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last 22 times she's played. Justine Mejia was another key contributor, scoring five points along with ten rebounds and seven steals.
Meanwhile, everything went Los Angeles CES's way against Venice on Friday as Los Angeles CES made off with a 61-39 win. The win made it back-to-back wins for Los Angeles CES.
Chiba was her usual excellent self, scoring 18 points along with seven steals. She hasn't dropped below two steals for eight straight games. Another player making a difference was Sincere Aubrey, who scored 12 points along with three steals and three blocks.
Arleta is on a roll lately: they've won 11 of their last 12 games, which provided a nice bump to their 19-10 record this season. As for Los Angeles CES, their win ended a four-game drought at home and bumped them up to 10-14.
Saturday's contest is shaping up to be a scrappy game: Arleta have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 38.8 rebounds per game. It's a different story for Los Angeles CES, though, as they've been averaging only 11.7 rebounds per game. Given Arleta's sizable advantage in that area, Los Angeles CES will need to find a way to close that gap.
Arleta couldn't quite finish off Los Angeles CES in their previous meeting back in January of 2018 and fell 42-39. Thankfully for Arleta, Kayla Jones (who scored 20 points along with five rebounds and three 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.
