Pirates Can't Find Offensive Rhythm in Loss

The Pirates' women's basketball team struggled with offensive cohesiveness Saturday night, falling to Los Angeles Trade Tech 55-45 at the LA Valley Buddy's All-Star Classic. VC shot just 28 percent from the floor during the game, and committed 21 turnovers, many unforced, in falling to the Beavers. Davina Del Castillo led Ventura with 10 points and 11 rebounds while Kylie Vint totaled eight points with five boards.

Despite their offensive woes, the Pirate defense held fast, holding the Beavers 25 points below their season average. Ventura outrebounded Trade Tech 48-39 and held them to 33 percent shooting from the field.

The Pirates fell behind 10-1 in the first five minutes of the game. They missed their first five shots with three turnovers before Del Castillo connected on a short jumper with a foul at the 4:29 mark of the first quarter. She completed the 3-point play and VC was back into the contest. Nikki Puga split two pairs of charity tosses, then nailed a 3-pointer to make the score 10-9 at the 2:38 mark. Jasmyne Martin hit a bucket to give Ventura its first lead, 11-10, and Alaina Garcia's deuce made it 13-12 for VC at the end of the period.

Kylie Vint cashed in a Del Castillo assist to make it 21-18 for the Pirates with 7:01 remaining in the first half before things went south, way south, for the VC offense. Trade Tech went on a 14-0 run to close the half as the Pirates could not find the bottom of the net. Ventura missed their final 10 field goal attempts of the half, and added four turnovers to the scoreless streak. LA Trade Tech led at halftime 32-21.

The drought continued as the second half began. The Beavers nailed a deuce and a trey to make it a 19-0 run, and the Pirates missed tow more shots before Vint corralled an offensive rebound with a putback to break the skid. Garcia came off the bench to make three free throws for Elissa Root, who was injured on a foul on her 3-point attempt, and Del Castillo followed with a field goal. Garcia nailed two more charity tosses and the Pirates cut the deficit to 39-30 with 4:59 left in the third quarter. After LATT extended the lead to 43-30, the Pirates scored the final eight points of the period. Del Castillo hit a jumper, followed by a Root triple, and an old-fashioned 3-point play by Del Castillo with an assist by Celeste Salazar. the Pirates trailed 43-38 at the quarter break.

The turnover bug reared its ugly head early in the final period for VC, as they gave away possession four times in the first 2:30 of play. Despite that, when Salazar converted Martin's assist on one of the Pirates' few fast break opportunities in the game, they still only trailed by five, 45-40, with 7:21 on the clock. Five missed shots and a turnover later, Trade Tech had built a 51-40 advantage with 4:36 remaining. From that point, the Pirates could get no closer, dropping the 55-45 decision.

Del Castillo added four blocks and two steals to her animal style double-double, and Garcia contributed eight points with a pair of dimes. Martin turned in seven points with five boards.

VC has a quick turnaround in the smoke-shortened two-day event at LA Valley College. They return to play San Bernardino Valley College on Sunday Dec. 10 at 1:00 pm. Fans can follow live tweets from the game on the Pirates' twitter page, @VCwbbWPH.