Moorpark opened a double-digit lead with an 11-3 run late in the first half on Wednesday night and went on to hand SBCC its first WSC North women’s basketball loss by a 58-43 count.
The 16th-ranked Vaqueros (16-8, 4-1) committed 14 of their 21 turnovers in the first half and shot just 30 percent for the game. The Raiders (14-10, 2-3) hit 47 percent from the field and won the rebound battle 32-21.
“You’re never as bad as you think you are when you lose and you’re never as good as you think you are when you win,” said Sandrine Krul, who coached Moorpark before coming to SBCC nine seasons ago. “We missed too many shots. You can’t win games when you miss a lot of shots.”
Riley Abraham, a 6-1 center, scored 15 of her game-high 28 points in the first half when the Raiders opened a 37-25 lead.
Mhiah Vickers scored 14 points and grabbed four rebounds for SBCC and Brooke Amenta had seven points.
The Vaqueros got within eight on several occasions in the second half but could get no closer. After Vickers canned a 17-footer, cutting the margin to 48-40 with 9:51 to go, Santa Barbara went seven minutes without a point.
Keia Nobles ended the drought with a free throw at the 2:49 mark but Moorpark was in command with a 56-41 lead.
“Our defense was stellar, we just had a tough time scoring,” Krul added. “We did the first half of our “2 and 2 philosophy” (stop 2 to score 2) but we couldn’t do the second half.
“Hey we’re 4-1 and 16-8. I’m a happy camper.”
The Vaqueros host Hancock on Saturday at 7 p.m.
