The Pirates' women's basketball team doubled-up Cuesta 70-34 Friday night in San Luis Opispo, claiming a share of the 2022 Western State Conference North Division championship. Kylie Gallick posted another In-N-Out special with 19 points and 13 rebounds and Kenya Edelhart scored 15 points with four boards and three assists. Sofia Torres-Reyes netted 15 points on five made 3-pointers and Maddie Ozbourn totaled 10 points with eight caroms in the game.
Torres-Reyes and Edelhart opened the game with a pair of three's, and Alisha Cruz-Lisberg scored on a drive and the Pirates never looked back. Ventura led 15-8 at the end of the first quarter.
VC's state-ranked No. 4 defense held the Cougars to a pair of field goals in the second period and the Pirates moved out to a 30-12 lead at halftime.
The third belonged to Gallick as she scored 10 of her team-high point total in the 10 minute span. Torres-Reyes also connected twice from range in the stanza as Ventura put the game away with 25 points in the quarter, leading 55-21 headed to the final 10 minutes.
The Pirates made 18 of 30 shots in the second half (60 percent) to post the 70-34 title-clinching victory.
Cruz-Lisberg got the start for Ventura and totaled nine points in the game with three assists and three steals. Jasmine Glover had a solid defensive effort in the game as the Pirates clinched the program's 32nd WSC title in the last 38 seasons, the 29th in head coach Ned Mircetic's 31 seasons at the helm.
Ventura has completed its regular season schedule winning its final 11 games. The CCCAA has added an extra week on the calendar for teams to make up games due to Covid postponements, but the Pirates have no games scheduled in the coming week. Playoff seedings will be announced on Sunday Feb. 27 and a compressed post-season begins on Tuesday March 1.