After falling behind by as many as eight points in the second quarter, the Pirates' women's basketball team came all the way back, only to drop a 67-61 decision to the bulldogs in Santa Maria Friday. Sofia Torres-Reyes totaled 19 points, including 5-7 shooting from three, and Kylie Gallick recorded her 20th double-double of the year with 11 points and 17 rebounds. Tiernan Phillips came off the bench to score 10 points with eight boards.
Kenya Edelhart hit a three to give the Pirates the early lead, but the Bulldogs responded with a 9-1 run to hold a 9-4 advantage halfway through the first quarter. Jasmine Glover's triple from an Alisha Cruz-Lisberg pass cut the deficit, and Cruz Lisberg followed with a basket on the next possession to tie the game at 9-9. Hancock responded with a pair of three's sandwiched around a Phillips field goal, and they closed the quarter with another score as VC trailed 17-11 after one quarter of play.
AHC's lead stretched to eight, 29-21, on another of their nine 3-pointers in the game with 3:50 left until halftime. Cruz-Lisberg had a steal and lay-up soon thereafter, and Phillips hit a charity shot and scored a lay-up and the Pirates cut the margin to three, 29-26, at intermission.
The Bulldogs scored the first four points of the third quarter before VC began to gain some traction. Gallick scored on an old-fashioned 3-point play, Torres-Reyes hit a mid-range jumper, and Cruz-Lisberg scored another "and-1" as Ventura tied the game at 34 with 5:59 remaining in the period. Torres-Reyes cashed in Edelhart's dime for three for a 39-38 VC lead at the 3:14 mark, and Edelhart hit a pair of free throws for a 41-41 tie at the quarter break.
Hancock scored a three and a two to open the fourth, but back-to-back lay-ups by Gallick and another 3-point play by Phillips tied the score again at 50 with 4:26 left to play. The teams traded blows with Edelhart matching a Hancock two and Torres-Reyes answering a Bulldog three as the teams remained tied with 2:32 left to play. Torres-Reyes hit again from downtown to answer a Hancock two for the 58-57 Pirate advantage at the 1:49 mark. AHC followed with a field goal to take the lead, and after a Pirate miss, the Bulldogs hit a key 3-pointer for a 62-58 lead with 39 seconds remaining. Ventura was forced to foul defensively the rest of the way, and Hancock went 5-6 at the line to seal the Pirates' fate.
Cruz-Lisberg added eight points to the Pirate effort, along with four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Edelhart scored seven and Glover added six.
The Pirates will now await their post-season pairings due out Sunday Feb. 19. VC will likely host a first round Southern California Regional Playoff game on Wednesday Feb. 22.