It is has been a long and sometimes painful process for the VC women's basketball team this season, but the fruits of their labors began to show through in their 77-38 win over visiting San Diego Mesa College Friday at the Athletic Event Center. Carolyn Ruffino recorded her first career double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Pirates (9-5).
San Deigo Mesa took their only lead of the night, 7-4, with a 3-pointer four minutes into the game. Micaela Pericone-Kapp answered with her own triple from a pass by Aubri Smith and VC held the lead for good. A trey from Makenna Murray made it 10-5 with 14:57 on the clock and VC was on their way.
Ruffino hit consecutive 3-pointers to give Ventura a 10-point edge, 18-8, and her third triple of the evening made the score 23-8 midway through the first half. A Christina Gonzalez free throw put the Pirates ahead by 20, 32-12, and two field goals from Madison O'Donnell made it 38-17 with 2:42 remaining. Ventura went into halftime doubling-up the Olympians, 40-20.
VC opened up the final half with a 13-3 run to put any doubts to sleep as to the outcome of the contest. Carly Maciel came on to hit three 3-pointers in the final stanza, and Ruffino continued her strong play making shots and distributing the basketball. Shiloh Smith closed the action with a pair of buckets to go along with five rebounds and a pair of steals defensively. The Pirates rode away with the solid 77-38 victory.
Ruffino added to her double-double with five assists and three steals. Aubri Smith had a solid fantasy basketball night with 11 points on 5-10 shooting, eight rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal. Brooke Zamora also had a solid outing with 14 points and six boards while Maciel totaled 10 points. Murray finished with nine points and three dimes. As a team, Ventura shot a season-high 46 percent for the game (32-69), making 10-31 from 3-point land.
Ventura closes its pre-Christmas schedule Saturday Dec. 21 with a 5:00 pm date with Long Beach City College at the Athletic Event Center.