Antelope Valley used a second-half rally to beat SBCC 57-53 on Saturday and claim third place in its ninth annual Holiday Tournament.
The Vaqueros, facing a top-8 ranked women’s basketball team for the second straight day, were led by Frannie DeAngelis with 19 points and Mara Lux with 12 rebounds. Those players combined for 13 of Santa Barbara’s 26 turnovers.
SBCC (7-9) led 25-19 at halftime but struggled from the field (34.6 percent) and free-throw line (6-14) in the second half. It was the second win over the Vaqueros this year by the eighth-ranked Marauders (13-3).
“We struggled in the second half with scoring,” said coach Sandrine Krul. “We got stuck on numbers again (not scoring for long stretches). We have to find other places to get scoring.”
Lyndsay Bergus had 10 points and Jake Kelly tossed in nine before both fouled out. SBCC was called for 11 more fouls (25-14) and made just 9-19 from the charity stripe. AVC hit 17 of 28 free throws.
Krul was frustrated with the officiating, noting that Lux was called for traveling four times in the second half. “And she’s our most fundamentally sound post player,” Krul noted.
SBCC is 1-6 against top-20 teams this season with three of the losses coming by six or less.
The Vaqueros will complete their nonconference schedule on Jan. 30 at Long Beach City College. They beat Long Beach 70-53 in the season opener on Nov. 13 at home.
