SBCC rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit to beat Orange Coast 80-76 on Sunday and claim third place in their own MTXE Women’s Basketball Tournament. The Vaqueros (2-1) showed all the traits of their tourney acronym — Mental Toughness, Extra Effort.
Frannie DeAngelis led Santa Barbara with 26 points and 10 rebounds while all-tournament choice Mara Lux had her second straight double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Lux scored eight of her 10 points in the second half.
DeAngelis tallied 17 in the first half, which ended with the 18th-ranked Vaqueros trailing 35-33.
Point guard Jake Kelly added 15 points for the Vaqueros, who trailed 48-38 with 14:16 to play before going on an 18-0 run to take a 56-48 lead. The Pirates regained the lead at 70-68 and 72-70 but SBCC took control with six straight points on layups by Kelly and Bridget Conlon followed by a steal and layup by Kelly.
“We didn’t play particularly well on Saturday night and we came back and played hard today,” said sixth-year head coach Sandrine Krul. “We had to make adjustments. We said we’re not going to transition unless it presents itself. And if we do transition, it has to go around the horn and make sure we take good shots.”
Tournament MVP Tijera Mathews had 17 points and 17 rebounds in the championship game, leading No. 5 Antelope Valley to a 73-62 overtime victory over Grossmont. Riverside claimed the consolation crown with a 71-63 win over Moorpark.
Other all-tourney choices were Siedah Wilson of Antelope Valley; Leticia Ridley and Sinoi Leasau of Grossmont and Gloria Thomas of Riverside.
SBCC travels to Bakersfield on Wednesday before returning home to take on No. 2-ranked Mt. San Antonio on Saturday at 5 p.m.
