Giovanna Aplin had a simple explanation after setting a career high of 20 points that propelled SBCC past L.A. Southwest 88-72 on Wednesday night in the quarterfinals of the South Regional women’s basketball playoffs at the Sports Pavilion.
“Beast mode,” she said. “I just wanted to step up for my team and take it to ’em.”
SBCC freshman Giovanna Alpin goes up for a running shot against L.A. Southwest on Wednesday at the Sports Pavilion.
Aplin, a 5-8 freshman from Thousand Oaks, hit 7-12 from the field and also had eight rebounds and four assists. Shortly after Francesca DeAngelis, the Vaqueros’ scoring leader, picked up her third foul with 10:48 to go in the first half, SBCC went on an 18-5 run that expanded the lead to 39-22. Aplin scored the last eight points in that spurt.
Aplin, who averages 6.4 a game, had 15 first-half points as the Vaqueros (19-11) took a 45-27 lead into the locker room.
Point guard Jake Kelly had 20 points, three rebounds, five assists and three steals while DeAngelis, the WSC North player of the week, finished with 13 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
Zajve’ Woods paced the Cougars (14-12) with 27 points.
“It was kind of chaotic at points but we did what we had to do to win,” said Kelly. “We’re excited to play Fullerton. We have a lot of work to do in practice on our defense and rebounding.”
The Vaqueros will travel to top-seeded Fullerton (28-1) for a regional semifinal on Saturday at 7 p.m. There are 16 teams remaining in the South playoffs and the top four will advance to the State Championships at Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks.
SBCC outshot the visitors 46 to 36 percent on the way to its fourth straight win and ninth in 10 games.
Mara Lux had a game-high 12 rebounds while Brittany Stephenson had eight points and six boards.
Bridget Conlan hit a 10-foot jumper to give the Vaqueros a 26-point lead, 77-51, with 6:42 to play. Southwest went on an 11-2 run to get within 17 before Chelsea Hewitt hit a baseline shot and Kelly added a pair of free throws.
“We don’t count on one player,” said coach Sandrine Krul after notching the first home playoff win of her six-year career. “We’ve been doing this for 12 games. When Franny can’t score, other people step up. And what did she have tonight, five assists? So she’s playing a lot smarter.
“Gigi (Aplin) has been playing great the last six conference games. If anyone deserves this, it’s Gigi. I get chills when I talk about it. She lost her starting spot at the end of preseason, then got it back and we haven’t played bad since then.”
SBCC 88, L.A. SOUTHWEST 72
SBCC — Aplin 7-12 5-8 20, DeAngelis 5-17 1-2 13, Kelly 7-15 3-3 20, Lux 2-3 1-4 5, Hewitt 3-3 0-0 6, Stephenson 4-9 0-0 8, Berhane 2-6 0-0 4, Bergus 1-3 1-2 4, Cullinan 1-1 1-2 3, Cooper 1-3 0-0 3, Conlan 1-1 0-0 2, Johnson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 34-74 .459, 12-21 .571, 88 points.
Halftime–SBCC 45-27. 3-point goals–LAS 4-20 .200. SBCC 8-23 .347 (Kelly 3-8, DeAngelis 2-5, Cooper 1-2, Bergus 1-2, Aplin 1-5). Total fouls–LAS 17, SBCC 19. Fouled out–None. Rebounds–LAS 41, SBCC 48 (Lux 12). Assists–LAS 11, SBCC 27 (Kelly 5, DeAngelis 5, Aplin 4). Turnovers–LAS 18. SBCC 17.
Records–SB 19-11, LAS 14-12.
