Jimenez’s solid game sparks SBCC women over Oxnard

Jennifer Jimenez scored 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds on Wednesday night as SBCC built a big second-half lead on the way to a 62-54 women’s basketball triumph at Oxnard.

The Vaqueros (10-12, 4-3 WSC North) opened the second half with a 24-0 blitz that stretched the lead to 27 points at 54-27. Oxnard (5-13, 1-7) was scoreless for the first 10 minutes of the second half.

Sara Crane racked up seven points, 11 rebounds, eight assists and three steals for Santa Barbara, which enjoyed a 46-31 rebound advantage. Nineteen of those rebounds were offensive with Jimenez, Crane and Mercedes Gonzalez grabbing four apiece.

“Our transition game was awesome,” said coach Sandrine Krul. “We used everyone tonight. Samantha Lugo and Lindsay Jesseman did a great job off the bench. Oxnard was able to catch up because they got hot from the 3-point line.”

Leslie Steele scored nine points on 3-7 shooting from downtown while Elia Salazar had eight points and five rebounds. .

The Vaqueros host top-ranked Ventura on Saturday at 5 p.m.