The Pirates' women's basketball team wrapped up the regular season with a strong performance Saturday, defeating Santa Barbara 64-42 at the Athletic Event Center. Jasmyne Martin had 14 points to lead a balanced scoring attack which saw all nine Pirates who played record a score. Davina Del Castillo totaled 13 points and Nikki Puga had nine. Melissa Ohmie pulled down 15 rebounds as Ventura (23-7, 9-1) won outright its 28th consecutive Western State Conference championship.
Ventura was able to corral the Vaqueros from the start. The teams traded buckets early before Alaina Garcia and Nikki Puga hit back to back threes and Martin connected for an old-fashioned 3-point play to give the Pirates an 14-6 advantage with 1:43 remaining in the first quarter. After another bucket by Garcia, Ventura led 16-8 at the end of the period.
The Pirates took full control in the second quarter, outscoring the Vaqueros 20-9 over the 10 minutes. Del Castillo opened with a deuce and Ohmie answered an SB trey by converting inside. That began a 10-0 VC run with a three and a two by Puga, a free shot from Del Castillo, and a bucket by Martin for a 28-11 advantage with 5:05 left in the half. The Vaqueros broke the streak with a bucket, but Ventura scored the next six points for a 34-15 lead at the 1:50 mark. The Pirates led 36-17 at halftime.
A bucket by Ohmie and triple from Celeste Salazar put Ventura ahead 41-19 with 7:22 remaining in the third when the Pirates went cold. They did not score for the next five minutes as SBCC went on a 13-0 run to close to within 41-32 with 3:50 on the clock. Talitha Draper ended the VC skid with an inside with an assist by Elissa Root, and Salazar assisted a long two by Martin as Ventura closed the quarter on a 11-0 run. Del Castillo and Martin each netted field goals and Root hit from range to make it 52-32 at the quarter break.
Del Castillo opened the final stanza with a 3-point play for a 23-point advantage and the writing was on the wall. Both teams had trouble finding the bottom of the net for a time, but the Pirates had the advantage and held it. In the end, VC poste dthe 64-42 victory over the Vaqueros.
Salazar handed out four dimes for the Pirates while Avery Brunk had five rebounds. Martin handed out three assists while Del Castillo had three helpers and three steals.
The 28 straight WSC titles is a state record for basketball. The Golden West men's water polo team won its 29th straight Orenge Empire Conference championship last fall and the College of the Desert men's golf team won 26 straight conference titles from 1988-2013. Mt San Antonio College had its 16-year South Coast Conference title streak in women's basketball end this season with their runner-up finish.
The Pirates now await their playoff seedings to be announced Monday. VC is looking at a top-8 seed, which would result in a home game Friday or Saturday Feb. 23 or 24. Information will be posted on ww.VCweplayhard.com or on Twitter @VCwbbWPH or @VCAthletics.