It’s tough to win a basketball game when shots aren’t falling.
SBCC’s women confirmed that theory on Saturday in a 67-50 WSC North setback to Ventura at the Sports Pavilion. The 18th-ranked Pirates (15-6, 4-0) made 43 percent from the field while the 20th-ranked Vaqueros (14-7, 1-2) struggled at 24 percent.
The home team tried 38 3-point shots and hit the net just four times (11 percent). After trailing 31-28 at intermission, the Vaqueros got outscored 36-22 in the final 20 minutes, thanks to 8-42 shooting, including 2-23 on long-range attempts.
“We lost this game because we couldn’t hit wide-open shots,” said coach Sandrine Krul, whose team beat Ventura 61-58 on Dec. 3. “I’m not upset at our effort.”
Mercedes Gonzalez came off the bench to scored 12 of her season-high 16 points in the first half. She also had 10 rebounds. Nanice Kollee added 12 points but made only 5-18 from the field.
“Everything was on point but our shots weren’t falling,” said Kollee, a 5-5 sophomore from Thousand Oaks. “And we didn’t fly in and get the rebound and try to put it up again. It was just one of those nights.”
Imelda Bealer had eight rebounds, seven assists and five steals but misfired on eight of nine shots.
Ventura led by 13 early in the second half and SBCC got within five (43-38) after an 8-0 run that featured triples by Kollee and Janelle Wong. The Pirates answered with an 8-2 burst and were never threatened the rest of the way.
The Vaqueros made just 4-12 from the free-throw line in the second half and missed the front end of three 1-and-1 opportunities.
SBCC travels to Oxnard on Wednesday and Hancock on Saturday. Both games start at 7 p.m.
