It had been nearly three years since the VC women's basketball team had played Oxnard College after the Condors' team had been cut due to budget constraints in 2012. Saturday night OC, their program restored, visited the Athletic Event Center for the first time since and the Pirates welcomed them back with a 76-35 VC win Saturday night. Micaela Pericone-Kapp led Ventura (18-5, 5-0) with 16 points, including three 3-pointers, nine rebounds and two steals.
The Pirates took control early as Pericone-Kapp hit a three, followed by buckets from Makenna Murray and Sandra Ortiz, giving Ventura a 7-1 advantage four minutes into the game. With the score at 9-5 at the 14:22 mark, VC went on an 14-1 run to break the game open. Brooke Zamora and Carolyn Ruffino hit back-to-back 3-pointers, both from Aubri Smith assists, and Murray hit a deuce. Another Aubri Smith to Zamora triple put Ventura ahead 20-5. Following a Condor free throw, Carly Maciel made the extra pass to Ruffino for another trey to widen the advantage to 23-6 with 7:55 left to play in the first half. A drive down the lane for two by Zamora just before the buzzer gave VC a 41-19 halftime lead.
After Oxnard scored the first bucket of the second half, the Pirates pulled away with a 16-0 run over seven minutes to settle the outcome. Ortiz emerged during the run with five big points, including a 3-point play deep in the paint. A pair of free throws by Pericone-Kapp made the score 57-21 at the 13:33 mark. Down the stretch, the Pirates received contributions from Madison O'Donnell, whose free throw gave the Pirates a 68-28 lead at the 5:01 mark, Felicia Magana, who made a pair of charity tosses, and Maciel, whose bucket in the final minute off of a Christina Gonzalez assist set the final score at 76-35.
VC had four players in double figures. Behind Pericone-Kapp, Ruffino netted 14 points while Murray had Zamora each had 10. Ortiz came in with nine points for the Pirates. Pericone-Kapp led VC with nine boards while Murray had eight and O'Donnell and Ortiz each pulled in seven. Aubri Smith dished out nine assists.
With the win, along with a Moorpark loss at Cuesta, VC climbed into first place alone atop the Western State Conference North Division. Ventura will travel to visit the Raiders in their next contest, Wednesday Jan. 28. Tip-off at the raider Pavilion is scheduled for 7:00 pm following the Pirate men at 5:00 pm.