Women's Basketball Rebounds to Defeat LA Valley

The Pirates' women's basketball team responded to a poor performance in their season-opening loss Thursday with a much improved effort in their 65-49 win over LA Valley on day two of the Wild West Shootout at West LA College. Jasmyne Martin had 19 points and nine rebounds while Davina Del Castillo had a double-double animal style with 12 points and 14 boards in the win.

The Pirates started out cold offensively, missing their first six shots and turning the ball over five times in the first five minutes of play.  When Martin finally hit a pair of free throws, LA Valley held a 6-2 advantage with 4:29 remaining in the first quarter. Del Castillo hit one of two charity tosses on the next possession, and Martin's driving lay-up at the 2:44 mark, VC's first made field goal, trimmed the Monarch lead to 11-5.  That bucket began an 8-0 Pirate run, including four points from Melissa Ohmie, and another make from Martin as VC tied the score at 11-1 with :57 remaining in the period. A Valley free throw made the score 12-11 at the quarter break.

Martin started off the second quarter with an old-fashioned 3-point play to put the Pirates ahead for the first time in the game, 14-12.  The Monarchs promptly scored twice to retake the lead, before Martin tied the game with a deuce with 6:50 on the clock, and Kylie Vint gave Ventura the lead for good with a turn-around jumper on the next possession. Talitha Draper followed with a pair of free shots and an offensive rebounds turned into a basket. LA Valley pulled to within two points twice late in the half, but Nikki Puga hit a driving lay-up just before halftime to give the Pirates a 26-22 edge at intermission.

VC took over in the third period, outscoring the Monarch 21-10. The game remained close until the 7:37 mark when Puga turned a Draper pass into a made 3-pointer, then Draper completed a 3-point play to increase the VC margin to 10 points, 36-26. Another charity toss from Draper, a Martin bucket and an Elissa Root shot from range continued the Pirates' 13-0 run that made the score 43-26 with 2:20 left in the stanza. VC led 47-32 at the end of three quarters of play.

In the final period, the Pirates answered every challenge put to them by LAVC. The lead never dropped below 13 points, and Martin's score with 2:31 remaining in the game gave VC a commanding 65-45 margin.  Ventura eased its way to the 65-49 win.

Talitha Draper was solid inside with 10 points, including a 6-7 shooting performance at the free throw line, and eight rebounds. Celeste Salazar dished out four assists and pulled in six boards while Puga contributed seven points. 

The Pirates outrebounded the Monarchs 55-40 in the game and only had 13 turnovers for the game, two in the second half.

VC will complete the Wild West Shootout against West LA College on Saturday Nov. 11. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:00 pm in Culver City.