2013-14 Ventura College Women's Basketball Team News
The Ventura College women's basketball team has announced that seven members of last season's state championship team will be transferring to four-year institutions in the fall. Since head coach Ned Mircetic began his tenure in before the 1990-91 season, 117 Pirates have now matriculated from the VC women's basketball team to four-year schools.
Fresh off of the program's seventh CCCAA State championship won on Sunday, the accolades continue to roll in for the Ventura College women's basketball team. Today, Lisa Marie Sanchez was named first team WBCA Coaches' All-American while teammate Cynthia Hernandez was named Honorable Mention WBCA Coaches' All-American. Meanwhile head coach Ned Mircetic was named one of three finalists for the 2014 Russell Athletic/WBCA Junior/Community College National Coach of the Year.
After a season of overpowering teams with its offense and 3-point shooting, the Pirates' women's basketball team turned the tables Sunday and brought home the program's seventh state championship with defense. Ventura defeated Mt. San Antonio 68-55 Sunday afternoon in Cerritos to win the title, holding the Mounties to 18 percent shooting and just 13 points in the game-deciding first half. VC (32-3) built a 26-13 advantage at the break, leading wire to wire in the victory before a large crowd dominated by orange and black. Adrianne Sloboh was dominant with a career-high 27 points to go along with 19 rebounds and tournament MVP Lisa Marie Sanchez netted 22 points with six rebounds and five assists.
Lisa Marie Sanchez’s flawless start ended with a sickening thud. And for a moment, it looked like the Ventura College women’s basketball team’s championship run had been halted, along with its on-court maestro. Despite doubling over in pain with back spasms after a hard foul on a 3-point play less than eight minutes into Friday night’s CCCAA state semifinal at Cerritos College, the sophomore point guard returned to guide the Pirates into its state-record ninth state championship game. Sanchez had 26 points and eight assists, Adrianne Sloboh had 10 points and 23 rebounds and shooters Hernandez and Adrianna Vega shook off early cold spells to combine for 10 3-pointers as the Pirates flew past Fresno City, 87-73.
In a hard-fought contest in front of a large partisan crowd at the VC Athletic Event Center, the Pirates' women's basketball team pulled away late, defeating Long Beach City College 90-81 in the CCCAA Southern California Regional Finals to advance to the CCCAA State Final Four next weekend in Cerritos. Adrianne Sloboh produced her second career high in as many games with 24 points and 13 rebounds while Lisa Marie Sanchez poured in 23 points. Cynthia Hernandez had 16 points and Brooke Dixon netted 12 points with seven boards for the Pirates (30-3). Micaela Pericone-Kapp had a big game off the bench with eight points.
Brooke Dixon scored in transition from a Lisa Marie Sanchez assist. Then Dixon grabbed an offensive rebound and fed Cynthia Hernandez for a 3-pointer, and she was fouled on the shot, making it a 4-point play after the free throw. Hernandez hit again on a floater from the left side and Sanchez assisted a field goal for Adrianne Sloboh. By the time Wednesday's playoff game was 2:35 old, VC had a 10-0 lead on the visiting Orange Coast Pirates, as Ventura rolled to a 103-63 victory in the CCCAA Southern California Regional Semifinals at the Athletic Event Center.
Pirate sophomore Lisa Marie Sanchez was named the California Community College Women's Basketball Coaches Association State co-Player of the Year last week. Meanwhile teammate Cynthia Hernandez earned second-team CCCWBCA All-State honors as named by the committee representing every conference in Southern California. The duo have led the Pirates to a 28-3 record to date and into the third round of the CCCAA SoCal Regional Playoffs. VC will host Orange Coast College on Wednesday Mar. 5 at 7:00 pm in the regional semifinals.
It did not take the Pirates very long to exorcise the ghosts of a year ago. After falling at home in their playoff opener in 2013, No. 1-seeded Ventura scored on four of their first five possessions Saturday night against No. 16 Santa Ana, en route to a dominating 95-52 victory over the Dons. All five starters scored in double figures, led by 21 points from Adrianna Vega's seven 3-pointers and 20 points from Cynthia Hernandez, including four triples. Lisa Marie Sanchez had 13 points with 11 assists, Adrianne Sloboh posted a double-double of 13 points and 14 rebounds, while Brooke Dixon netted 19 points on 9-13 shooting as VC advances to the CCCAA SoCal Regional Semifinals against Orange Coast. VC will host the Pirates of the South on Wednesday March 5 at 7:00 pm.
After leading the Pirates to the program's 19th undefeated Western State Conference North Division campaign, the entire starting five earned first-team All-WSC honors as voted by the conference coaches on Sunday. The quintet of Brooke Dixon, Cynthia Hernandez, Lisa Marie Sanchez, Adrianne Sloboh, and Adrianna Vega, led the Pirates to their 24th consecutive WSC crown, winning the conference by a record five games.
The Pirates' women's basketball team put a giant exclamation point on the end of the 2013-14 regular season with a 97-58 win at Moorpark on Saturday night. VC (27-3, 12-0) was never threatened in the game as they splashed 15 of 26 from 3-point land. Cynthia Hernandez led the barrage with 29 points, including 7-12 from behind the arc and Adrianna Vega hit for 20 points on a 6-7 night from the 3. Lisa Maria Sanchez netted 19 points with 11 assists, becoming VC's all-time career assist leader and Brooke Dixon had another double-double performance with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Adrianne Sloboh picked up 17 boards to go along with eight points.
As the season draws to a close, sophomore Lisa Marie Sanchez is rewriting the record books for point guards at Ventura College. Wednesday night in her final regular season contest at the Athletic Event Center, Sanchez handed out 17 assists, a new single-game record, and moved her season total to 218 assists, tying her for the all-time single-season record with Tara McLean set back in 1984-85. She also scored 18 points to lead the Pirates to an 86-66 win over second-place College of the Canyons. Brooke Dixon had 22 points and 10 rebounds while Ardrianne Sloboh totaled 17 points and 14 boards for the Pirates (26-3, 11-0).
Continuing a streak that began in the presidential administration of George H.W. Bush, the Pirates celebrated President's Day weekend with an 88-34 victory over Santa Barbara, claiming outright the program's 24th consecutive Western State Conference championship, VC's 27th title since 1984. Lisa Marie Sanchez had 17 points and seven assist while Adrianne Sloboh netted 17 points with 14 rebounds and four assists. The Pirates shot a sizzling 82 percent from the floor in the second half, missing just five of 28 shots in the period, in the victory in front of a large crowd in the annual barbeque fundraising game at the Athletic Event Center.
A strong team effort propelled the Ventura College women's basketball team past Los Angeles Pierce College, 114-39 Wednesday night in Woodland Hills. The Pirates were able to post the most points since Jan. 7, 2009 while no individual player scored over 19 points in the game. Cynthia Hernandez had 19 points with six assists, leading five players in double-figures. Hernandez hit four 3-pointers, giving her 85 on the season, setting a new team record, breaking the old mark set by Hall of Famers Amirah Leonard in 1998 and Renae Hofmann in 2000. The win clinched at least a tie for Ventura's 24th consecutive Western State Conference championship.
After a week off, the Pirates' women's basketball team had to shake off some rust, and a pesky Allan Hancock team, in defeating the Bulldogs 69-54 Saturday in Santa Maria. Lisa Marie Sanchez led all scorers with 20 points to go along with eight assists and Adrianne Sloboh recorded a double-double of 14 points and 17 rebounds to go along with a pair of assists and four steals in the victory for VC (23-3, 8-0). Brooke Dixon had 14 points and eight boards while Cynthia Hernandez produced 11 points and five assists.
Lisa Marie Sanchez took the opening tip and drive in for a floater to put Ventura up 2-0 10 seconds into the game. Two minutes later she assisted a field goal by Cynthia Hernandez and VC led 9-2. The points and assists kept coming all night long for the Pirates as Sanchez tied a school record with 15 assists while scoring 16 points and Ventura rolled past the Cougars 94-42 Saturday night at the Athletic Event Center. Hernandez netted 23 points to lead the way as all 12 Pirates scored in the game. Adrianne Sloboh had 10 points and nine rebounds for VC (23-3, 7-0).
At the end of the night, there were smiles for all. Behind 21 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals from Lisa Marie Sanchez, the Pirates' women's basketball team defeated a hard-fighting Moorpark team 71-60 to move to 6-0 in Western State Conference North Division play, two games up on the second place Raiders. Meanwhile, the team also hosted the seventh annual Ribbons of Life Breast Cancer Game, raising $3,090 for the local breast cancer advocacy group through a silent auction during the game.
