They don’t call them the best for nothing.
The SBCC Vaqueros couldn’t hold onto their brief second half lead as Ventura, the state’s top-ranked women’s basketball team, took control in Wednesday night’s 74-66 conference bout for first place in the Western State Conference at the Sports Pavilion.
“It wasn’t just one or two plays that got us the win, but a consistent effort,” head coach Ned Mircetic said. “We were able to grind out each possession.”
Channelle Brennan pushed the Pirates’ (28-1,10-0) win streak to 15 with 31 points on a barrage of strong drives to the basket.
“She runs to the rim as well as anyone I’ve ever coached,” said Mircetic, who is in his 20th year as head coach.
The Vaqueros (15-10, 7-2 WSC) had their five-game win streak snapped.
The Vaqs led by as much as four in the opening minutes into the first half, but had a difficult time finding a rhythm as the Pirates surged ahead. SBCC’s Francesca DeAngelis, the conference’s top scorer at 20.3 points per game, was held to two points going 1-for-7 from the field in the first half.
The Vaqs shot 23-for-66 from the field and 8-for-26 from beyond the arc in the game.
“You gotta make shots against Ventura, and we just couldn’t do that,” said coach Sandrine Krul.
Point guard Amanda Padilla hit all three of Ventura’s treys in the first half, finishing with 15 points. Both teams exchanged the lead three times before the break.
Ventura led 34-29 heading into the locker room.
Despite her poor first-half shooting, DeAngelis surged and built a second-half comeback with 17 points and three steals in the second half, actually giving the Vaqs a brief 53-52 lead with 12 minutes to go on a spot-up trey from the right wing.
Ventura responded with a 12-4 run off of Vaquero turnovers and strong offensive rebounding.
“We kept giving them second- and third-shot opportunities,” said Krul.
The Vaqs were out rebounded 40-33 in the game.
Ventura has won or shared the last 19 WSC North titles. They shared the title with SBCC in 2007, as both teams finished at 11-1. Since 1996, the Pirates are 167-2 in conference. Both losses came at the hands of Santa Barbara, in 2006 and 2007.
SBCC lost to the Pirates 64-39 earlier this season.
“They’re good at so many things it’s irritating,” said Krul laughingly. “But one day we’ll get ’em.”
The Vaqs will travel to Oxnard to take on the Condors at 5 p.m. this Saturday.
