VC guard Kenya Edelhart scored 26 points on 11-13 shooting from the floor and forward Kylie Gallick had a double-double of 14 points and 20 rebounds as the Pirates dominated from the opening tip in their 80-47 win at Cuesta Wednesday in San Luis Obispo. Ventura (17-6, 6-2) outscored the Cougars 20-1 in the opening quarter to begin the rout. Sofia Torres-Reyes added 14 points while Jasmine Glover and Alisha Cruz-Lisberg each added nine.
Although the Pirates sowed some road weariness in the early going, connecting on just two buckets in the first four minutes of play, they quickly found their stride soon thereafter. Glover got things going with a steal and lay-up at the 5:46 mark and Cruz-Lisberg followed suit 25 on the next possession. Gallick scored inside and Edelhart put together back-to-back scores. Glover closed VC's 16-0 game-starting run with another steal and lay-up at the 2:52 mark and Ventura led 20-1 after 10 minutes of play.
After two Cuesta free throws to open the second, Torres-Reyes and Gallick both connected for deuces to stretch the lead to 21, 24-3. The Cougars followed with a mini hot-streak, scoring eight straight points, including a pair of three's, before Edelhart ended VC's three-minute scoring drought with a bucket at the 4:37 mark. Gallick hit one of two free throws and Edelhart scored again on the move before hitting a pull-up three on the break to move the advantage back to 32-13 with 2:02 on the clock. Ventura went into halftime holding a 33-18 edge.
The Pirates resumed their strong play just after halftime as a Gallick two and a Torres-Reyes triple opened the VC scoring. Torres-Reyes then hit a pair of free throws, and Cruz-Lisberg hit one of two charity chances before Edelhart's two made it 43-23 with 5:57 on the clock. After scoring three points over the next four minutes, Ventura closed the stanza with a bang, starting with a 3-pointer by Glover on the left wing at the 1:57 mark. Torres-Reyes scored two on the next possession and Gallick hit a free throw the next trip down the floor. Edelhart closed the quarter with a transition three from the left side and the Pirates led 55-29 heading to the final period.
VC maintained the large margin over the last 10 minutes with valuable contributions from Tiernan Phillips, Alina Olivo, Alexis Howery and Dani Henley off the bench. Phillips scored Ventura's final six points to set the final 80-47 margin.
Edelhart added six rebounds, four assists and four steals to her point total while Glover picked up six thefts and dropped three dimes in the game. Gallick added three steals and Torres-Reyes and Olivo each recorded two assists.
Ventura next heads to Moorpark on Saturday Feb. 4 for a 1:00 pm date with the Raiders.