SBCC used a smothering defense to hold San Diego Mesa to seven first-half points on Thursday night and went on to post a 66-20 women’s basketball victory in the opening round of the MTXE Tournament at the Sports Pavilion.
The Vaqueros (3-0) closed the first half on a 22-1 run and led 33-7 at intermission. The Olympians committed 21 turnovers in the first half and were outshot 38 to 21 percent by the Vaqueros.
SBCC scored the first nine points of the second half and stretched the margin to 35 points (42-7) on two free throws by Keia Nobles with 14:12 to play. Mesa (2-2) went 15:09 without a field goal at the end of the opening half and start of the second until Janelle Stroud scored in the lane with 13:51 to play.
Sophomore forward Brooke Amenta led the Vaqueros with 14 points and seven rebounds. Nobles grabbed 13 rebounds, including five offensive.
“I’ve never experienced a first half like that one,” said Amenta, a 5-10 sophomore from Woodland Hills. “All 14 players did well, we all had each other’s back and we did our roles like we do in practice. We played our game.”
The Vaqueros outrebounded the Olympians 40-28 and forced 37 turnovers. They also held Mesa to 18 percent shooting (6-of-34).
Sharar Ali-Clarke added eight points and five steals off the bench and Stefanie Salinas scored eight, including a 3-pointer just seconds after entering the game late in the first half.
Jennifer Thompson was also productive off the bench with seven points and three steals. Jasmine Mata had seven points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Starter Mhiah Vickers produced seven points and six boards.
“I’m really proud of our subs and our starters only played about 15 minutes,” said coach Sandrine Krul. “Stefanie, JT (Thompson) and (Jessica) McGowan were great off the bench, I’m really proud of the way they stayed disciplined. And Jasmine Mata was awesome too.
“I don‘t think we‘ve ever held a team to seven points in a half. We maintained our focus because of our bench.”
In other first-round games, No. 5 San Bernardino Valley downed No. 7 Cerritos 73-49, Santa Ana beat Grossmont 74-54 and Riverside got past Solano 50-42.
SBCC will take on Riverside on Friday at 7 p.m. in a semifinal game. San Bernardino Valley and Santa Ana will battle at 5 p.m.
In the consolation semifinals, Cerritos meets Grossmont at 1 p.m. Friday and Solano will square off with San Diego Mesa at 3 p.m.
The championship will be played on Saturday at 5 p.m.
