Despite outscoring Moorpark in each of the last three quarters, the Pirates' women's basketball team could not overcome a sluggish first period on their 64-52 setback at Moorpark Saturday afternoon. VC trailed 22-7 with eight turnovers 10 minutes into the game before getting untracked the rest of the way. Kenya Edelhart led the effort with 20 points, including a career-high five 3-pointers, with three assists and Kylie Gallick netted 12 with nine rebounds.
Ventura was down 7-0 before Alisha Cruz-Lisberg made a jumper two minutes into the game. Gallick's shot from the baseline made it 10-4 midway through the stanza and Edelhart's three closed the gap to 16-7. The raiders ended the quarter on a 6-0 run.
Moorpark's advantage stretched to 18 points, 29-11 on a 3-point play with 6:32 left in the half before Ventura came alive with an 11-0 run. Edelhart hit a three, assisted by Alina Olivo, and Tiernan Phillips followed with an offensive rebound and lay-up on the next possession. Gallick hit a pair of charity shots, as did Jasmine Glover, followed by another Gallick bucket off Edelhart's dime, to make it 29-22 with 3:25 on the clock. MC outscored the Pirates 9-2 over the next two minutes, however, and VC trailed 39-25 at halftime.
The teams played relatively even in the third quarter with the Pirates' deficit moving between 11 and 17 points. Phillips scored inside with 1:13 on the clock to pull Ventura within 49-36 at the quarter break.
Edelhart brought the Pirates back to within striking distance with back-to-back three's to open the final period. VC had three shots to lower the margin below eight points, but could not find the inside of the rim before Moorpark hit a three to turn back the charge with 6:38 remaining. Edelhart scored on a drive at the 3:17 mark to make it 55-46, and Sofia Torres-Reyes answered a banked three from the baseline by MC with her own shot from range in the right corner. Cruz-Lisberg's 3-point play with 1:58 remaining maintained the eight-point deficit, but VC could get no closer.
Phillips ended the game with six points while Torres-Reyes netted five with four dimes. Cruz-Lisberg also netted five points despite fighting foul trouble all game.
VC returns home on Wednesday Feb. 8 to host Los Angeles Pierce College at 5:00 pm. It will also be the Pirates' annual Ribbons of Life game promoting breast cancer awareness and supporting the Ribbons of Life Breast Cancer foundation of Ventura. Please check out the Pirates' social media sites this week to see how you can get involved and help RoL.