The Pirates' women's basketball team held off a late charge from West Los Angeles SUnday to claim a 57-55 victory in the Wild West Shootout at the Culver City college. Kylie Gallick capped her Tournament Most Valuable Player performance with her third straight double-double, 27 points and 18 rebounds. All-Tournament selection Sofia Torres-Reyes scored 14 points with seven assists and All-Tournament honoree Alisha Cruz-Lisberg netted eight points on top of an outstanding defensive performance for Ventura (3-0).
VC, starting its third different line-up in as many games due to injury and illness, had difficulty scoring in the first quarter, misfiring on over two-thirds of their shots. The Pirates also committed seven turnovers in the quarter. The Ventura defense held fast, however, limiting the athletic Wildcat team to just 10 points and VC trailed 10-8 after one period.
Gallick tied the score with an inside bucket off a Torres-Reyes assist on the Pirates' first possession of the second stanza, and then answered a WLAC score with another field goal on the next possession. Gallick then hit two free throws and Cruz-Lisberg nailed a shot from deep in the corner for a 17-14 VC lead with 6:35 remaining until halftime. Gallick then hit a pair of field goals, the second as part of an old-fashioned 3-point play and the Pirate margin expanded to five, 22-17. West LA scored the next five points to tie he score once again before Torres-Reyes connected on a charity toss and scored on a runner to put Ventura back on top. Gallick closed the half with two more scores and VC led 29-25 at halftime.
VC appeared to be taking control early in the second half on the efforts of Gallick, who made two more charity shots and a field goal around a deuce by Cruz-Lisberg for a 35-30 lead three minutes into the second half. VC spent the next three minutes without scoring, however, and the Wildcats came back to take a 36-35 lead with 3:44 left in the period. Jocelyn Contreras rolled in two free shots on the next possession, however, and the Pirates re-took the lead. Gallick's second 3-point play of the game in the final minute of the third maintained VC's four-point advantage, 42-38, at the quarter break.
West LA scored the first five points in the fourth to take a 43-42 advantage over the Pirates. Torres-Reyes answered the call with a strong left-handed drive for two and Gallick hit two more free throws on the next possession before answering a Wildcat score with two more makes from the line. WLAC pulled to within 48-47 at the 4:37 mark before Torres-Reyes hit a shot in the paint to temporarily hold off the 'cats. VC went nearly three more minutes without scoring as West LA netted a 4-0 run to re-take the upperhand, 51-50, with 1:29 remaining. Torres-Reyes scored another key field goal on the next possession before the Wildcats answered to go ahead 53-52 with 41.7 seconds remaining in the game. Torres-Reyes nailed a key 3-pointer late in the shot clock on the next play, putting VC ahead 55-53, and Alina Olivo hit a pair of crucial free throws with 12.4 seconds left to secure the victory.
Gallick was named tournament MVP with another stellar performance. She shot 8-12 from the floor and 11-12 from the free throw line in tallying her 27 points while grabbing five offensive rebounds and 13 boards on the defensive end. For the tournament she averaged 22 points and 18 rebounds while shooting 57 percent from the floor and 87 percent at the free throw line.
Torres-Reyes added six rebounds to her stat line and Haley Bennett pulled in four boards.
Ventura next opens its home schedule on Thursday Nov. 17 against West Hills College, Lemoore. Tip-off against the Eagles is scheduled for 7:00 pm at the Athletic Event Center.