Playing its sixth game in nine days, and missing two regulars due to injury, the Pirates' women's basketball team ran out of gas toward the end of the game with Mt. San Antonio on Saturday in the third place game of the VC-Kiwanis Tournament of Champions. Ventura led 40-31 with 3:40 remaining in the third period, but was outscored 23-4 from that point on in the 54-44 setback. Sofia Torres-Reyes led Ventura with 11 points, five rebounds and a pair of assists in the game.
Ventura got off to a slow start, falling behind 9-2 four minutes into the game. Kylie Gallick converted an assist by Alyssandra Lacanilao, then she made a free throw to make it 9-5. Sea'Ana Egizi came in to hit a three, and Mya Victor's old-fashioned 3-point play closed the gap to 11-2 with 2:22 on the clock. Egizi's made jumper from Maddie Ozbourn's dime tied the score at 13 with 1:20 remaining. Mt. SAC hit a shot late in the period to hold a 15-13 edge at the quarter break.
The Mounties made a three and a two to open the second quarter, expanding their advantage to seven points. Midway through the stanza, Jasmine Glover converted a steal and lay-up, and Victor scored a deuce to cut the deficit to three. Sam martinez then made a lay-up and Lacanilao fed Gallick for two for a 23-22 VC lead. Lacanilao made a lay-up and connected on a pair of charity tosses down the stretch as the Pirates and Mounties went into the locker room tied at 27.
Torres-Reyes sandwiched a pair of triples around a Mt. SAC bucket to begin the second half as VC took a 33-29 lead at the 6:51 mark. Torres-Reyes then assisted a jumper by Ozbourn, and Ozbourn followed with her own 3-pointer and the lead was nine for Ventura, 38-29. The Mounties finally answered with a duece, and Ozbourn hit a pair of free throws for a 40-31 margin with 3:40 remaining in the period. The Pirates hit a wall at that point, going the next 6:18 without a score. In the meantime, the Mounties scored nine straight points to tie the score at the end of the third period, and then scored a pair of buckets early in the fourth for a 44-40 lead.
Torres-Reyes hit a three at the 7:22 mark to close the gap to a single point, and Egizi hit a free shot to tie the score a minute later. Mt. San Antonio scored the final 10 points of the game from that point, however, to claim third place in the tournament with the 54-44 win over VC.
Ozbourn finished with seven points, seven rebounds and three assists and Victor also scored seven with six boards. Egizi had six points in the game and Gallick finished with five points and five boards.
The Pirates get Thanksgiving week to rest and recuperate before heading to the Gilcrest Invitational at the College of the Sequoias in Visalia on Dec. 2.