Pirates Blow Past Santa Barbara on Sophomore Night

An up and down season for the Pirates' women's basketball team took a decidedly upward swing on Wednesday.  Behind strong performances from Kyleesha Green and Brooke Zamora, VC defeated visiting Santa Barbara 88-54 on sophomore night at the Athletic Event Center.  Ventura played fast, strong and together as the regular season entered its final week with the post-season looming on the horizon.

VC (25-4, 11-0), who clinched its 26th consecutive Western State Conference title a week ago, started its steady climb over the Vaqueros from the opening tip.  Aubri Smith hit Makenna Murray for a back door lay-up on the first possession of the game, and Carolyn Ruffino assisted a bucket by Amani White on the next as VC jumped to a 4-0 lead.  SBCC managed ties at 6-6 and 8-8, but White free throw at the 3:05 mark of the first quarter gave the Pirates the lead for good.  The Pirates closed the quarter on an 11-2 run, taking control of the game.

Kyleesha Green came up big for VC in the second quarter.  She completed an old-fashioned 3-point play, then connected on a drive to the bucket to make it 24-12 for the Pirates.  She also assisted buckets by Marissa Hurtado and Murray.  the Pirates closed the period with consecutive baskets in the final minute to take a 36-24 lead into halftime.

Santa Barbara closed to within 41-33 with 6:35 left in the third quarter, but could get no closer. Ventura went on a 15-3 run, powered by back-to-back threes from Zamora to put the game on ice. Aubri Smith assisted both triples, then Green scored at the rim twice.  Zamora cashed in a Green assist for another triple and Green netted another bucket as the Pirates led 58-38 after three periods.

Ventura stretched the lead to 27 points, 65-38, early in the final quarter as the Pirates left no doubt as to the outcome of the contest.  Murray hit a triple, as did Green, and Zamora scored  a pair of buckets in between.  In the final minutes, the VC reserves continued the team's strong play as Sienna Brown went 3-3 from the floor and Tatum Maciel hit both of her shots, including a 3-pointer.  Shiloh Smith dominated the boards down the stretch with five rebounds, and she threw in a three for good measure.  The Pirates rode the momentum to the 88-54 victory.

Green led the way with her best performance of the year with 22 points, five assists and five steals.  Zamora posted her second straight strong performance with 20 points and seven boards, hitting four of six shots from behind the arc.  Aubri Smith had seven assists and six rebounds while White pulled in 12 boards to go with eight points and three blocks. Murray finished with 13 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals in the win.

The Pirates will travel to Oxnard for their regular-season finale on Saturday Feb. 20.  They will battle the second-place Condors in a special 1:00pm tip-off at OC.  

THe Pirates' class of 2016 with their families and mentors before Wednesday's game.