The VC women's basketball team held off hard charging San Francisco Saturday night, posting a 70-67 victory over the Rams in the semifinals of the LAVC-Buddy's All-Star classic at Los Angeles Valley College. Ventura (9-3) led CCSF 62-51 with 4:52 remaining before the Rams came all the way back to take a 67-66 advantage. A lay-up by Cece Quintino with 32 seconds left, and two free throws by LaDaesha Merriweather with 14 seconds on the clock set the final margin for VC. The Pirates advance to the tournament championship on Sunday Dec 9 against Los Angeles Trade Tech at 4:00 pm.
Early on there were 12 lead changes in the first six minutes of play. Colleen Clow's two free throws was the 12th as Ventura took a 13-12 lead at the 4:42 mark of the opening period. Madison Cvijanovich followed with a 3-pointer off Quintino's assist to expand the lead to four, 16-12. The Pirates maintained the lead with a runner from Cvijanovich and a lay-up by Talia Taufaasau and led 20-16 at the quarter break.
Back-to-back buckets by Taufaasau and Quintino gave Ventura some breathing room to open the second period, and Victoria Maciel's lay-up at the 6:17 mark made it 26-20 for VC. The Rams score dthe next five points, however, and matched the Pirates score for score until they tied the game at 32 with a three with 2:06 on the clock. Robin Fallandy hit a big shot to break the deadlock, and VC hit four of six charity tosses down the stretch to take a 38-35 advantage into halftime.
CCSF opened the second half with two straight scores to take the lead, but Maciel answered with a triple from Quintino's dime, and Merriweather scored inside off an assist by Taufaasau. Talia sandwiched two free throws and a jumper around a lay-up by Quintino, then Clow hit inside and Quintino connected on a pair of free shots as the Pirates closed a 17-3 run holding a 55-42 advantage with 2:31 remaining in the third period. The Rams followed with two free throws and a field goal before Maciel's charity toss made it 56-46 at the end of tree quarters.
Ventura want cold form the field in the fourth quarter. Maciel hit VC's first field goal, a 3pointer, with 6:32 remaining in the game to make the score 60-51. Taufaasau had a pair of free throws at the 4:52 mark to expand the lead to back to double figures. San Francisco picked up their intensity in the closing minutes, but the Pirates temporarily held them off with free throws by Taufaasau and Cvijanovich. Ventura led 66-58 with 2:41 remaining, but five VC turnovers over the next 1:49 allowed the rams to come back to take a 67-66 lead with under a minute left. Quintino hit the go-ahead lay-up with 32 seconds remaining, and Merriweather's free throws stretched the advantage back to three with 14 ticks remaining. After a pair of missed free thows by the Pirates, San Francisco had one final shot to tie, but the ball spun in and out of the basket as time expired. VC held on for the 70-67 victory.
Taufaasau led the Pirates with 22 points and six assists and her 14 made free throws is tied for fourth all-time in school history. Meanwhile, Quintino totaled 17 points and Maciel also finished in double-figures with 10. Merriweather had eight points and 12 rebounds while Cvijanovich finished with seven points and 12 boards.
Ventura will play for the tournament championship on Sunday Dec. 9 at 4:00 pm against Los Angeles Trade Tech College.