SBCC opened with a 12-0 run in Saturday’s women’s basketball home finale and never looked back in a 71-56 win over L.A. Pierce.
Elia Salazar scored 20 of her season-high 25 points in the second half. She also grabbed 11 rebounds. Mercedes Gonzalez pulled down 14 boards, helping the Vaqueros (13-14, 7-5 WSC North) to a 45-34 rebound advantage. Gonzalez has 27 rebounds in her last two games.
SBCC shot 46 percent in the first half, including 5-9 on 3-pointers, to build a 38-19 lead. Katie Grande had 10 of her 12 points in the first 20 minutes and Leslie Steele scored all nine of her points.
“When we went down to nine players from injuries and other things, those nine players really believed,” said coach Sandrine Krul. “If those guys had just believed in the beginning, things would have been different.
“You don’t let one person affect the group, you let the group affect the person. That’s what this season was about. We finished third in conference, which was an improvement on last year‘s fourth place.”
Keia Nobles had six points and seven boards for the Vaqueros, who outshot the Brahmas 45 to 30 percent. They extended the lead to 24 points, 58-34, on a shot in the lane by Salazar with 8:51 to play.
Krul said there’s an outside chance for her team to make the 18-team Southern Cal Regional for a seventh straight year but they need a few other teams to lose their finale.
