Dons suffer their first defeat of the season

Santa Barbara ran into foul trouble, got outscored 20-8 in the third quarter and wound up losing to Chaminade 69-56 in a Gold Coast Classic girls basketball game on Thursday night at Rio Mesa High in Oxnard,

Poor free-throw shooting and foul trouble plagued the Dons, who suffered their first loss of the season after four straight wins.

Santa Barbara started the third quarter trailing by one, 36-35. But the Dons were weakened by fouls to key players. They also struggled from the free-throw line, making 12 of 23.

Ivette Gil led Santa Barbara with 19 points, seven rebounds and six steal. Melissa Lemus had 15 points, eight assists and four steals. Freshman Jada Howard was a perfect 5 for 5 from the floor for 10 points and grabbed five rebounds.

Santa Barbara plays San Marcos at the Thunderhut in the final pool-play game at 7 p.m.

AB