WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: It had been billed as one of the toughest Western State Conference openers for the Pirates in a number of years. No. 1 Ventura visited No. 12 Cuesta on Wednesday night to open conference play, and Adrianna Vega made sure that VC's longest road trip of the WSC schedule was a productive one, scoring 20 points in the Pirates' 76-54 victory. The sophomore hit five 3-pointers helping Ventura (16-3, 1-0) extend to a 31 point cushion before settling in for the 22-point victory. Cynthia Hernandez had 16 points while Adrianne Sloboh netted 15 with seven rebounds.
Ventura took control from the opening tip, hitting five straight free throws, two by Brooke Dixon and three by hernandez, on their first two possessions. By the time Lisa Marie Sanchez hit a runner with 13:39 on the clock, the Pirate advantage had stretched to 11 points, 15-4. Madison O' Donnell hit a pair of charity shots to make the score 20-6 at the 11:41 mark, and Hernandez stretched the lead to 20, 28-8, with a bucket with 6:16 on the clock. Vega's third 3-pointer of the first half gave the Pirates a 38-18 halftime margin.
Vega got things started in the second half with another triple, and a trey by Hernandez with 10:41 remaining in the contest started a decisive 10-0 run by VC over the next three minutes that put the game away. Vega hit two free shots followed by a nice drive inside by O'Donnell. Vega's fifth 3-pointer of the evening closed the run, giving the Pirates a healthy 61-30 lead with 7:51 left. The lead stretched to as many as 32 points, 68-36 with 3:26 remaining before Cuesta took advantage of wholesale substitutions by VC, pressing the reserves into giving up a 10-0 Cougar run. Ventura won the game comfortably 76-54.
VC will enjoy a bye weekend before returning home to host Allan Hancock College on Wednesday Jan. 15 at 5:00 pm. That game at the Athletic Event Center can be heard live online on the VC Women's Sports Network, and will be followed by the Pirate men at 7:00 pm against the Bulldogs.