Darla Morales scored 17 points with eight rebounds off the bench on Saturday and her twin sister Andrea Morales added 15 points as SBCC finished strong to beat L.A. Pierce 83-55 in the final regular-season women’s basketball game at Woodland Hills.
After leading 41-30 at the half, the Vaqueros (11-16, 6-6 WSC North) fell behind 47-46 after a 16-1 run by the Brahmas (4-22, 1-11). Santa Barbara responded with an 18-3 burst to regain control at 64-50 with 5:33 to play.
The Vaqueros outscored the Brahmas 37-8 in the final 11:43. SBCC outshot the hosts 43 to 30 percent and forced 36 turnovers.
After an 0-4 start in conference, the Vaqueros won six of their last eight to finish in fourth place. Coach Sandrine Krul said there’s an outside chance that SBCC could get into the 18-team Southern Cal Regional.
“I’m so happy we ended up 6-6 in conference,” said Krul. “It’s all about progression and positive experiences. We went 2-4 in the first half and 4-2 in the second half. The sophomores all played well tonight. It’s a little sad and bittersweet if this was their last game.”
Darla Morales hit 4-5 field goals and 9-11 from the free-throw line in a game where there were 78 fouls and 65 free throws. The Vaqueros made 28-41 (68.3 percent) from the charity stripe while Pierce was 15-37 (40.5 percent).
Alyssa Cosio added 12 points on 5-7 shooting and Victoria Jackson had a stellar all-around game with 10 points, six assists, six steals and five rebounds. Mizhrua Bautista had eight rebounds, four steals and three assists and Stella Dulay chipped in with eight points and five rebounds.
