In an intense battle that went down to the final minute, the Pirates' women's basketball team dropped a 52-45 decision at Moorpark Wednesday night. Sam McKenzie poured in 22 points to lead VC (11-7, 2-1) and Alexa Coubal pulled in a game-high nine rebounds. Elena Ferrara came off the bench to add six points and six boards and Daphné LeBrun had five points with three assists and a pair of steals.
After falling behind 8-0 in the early going, the Pirates came to life on a 3-pointer by Alexis Howery, assisted by Tiernan Phillips. Phillips dropped another dime to Ferrara for two with 6:31 left in the opening period. Coubal had a steal and Ferrara made another easy bucket later in the quarter, and McKenzie's lay-up brought the Pirates back to within 15-11 at the end of the first 10 minutes.
A pair of lay-ups by McKenzie, the second from a LeBrun pass, and an easy two by Howery brought Ventura to within 20-19 with 2:51 remaining in the first half. Leslie Salazar answered a Raider deuce by cashing in LeBrun's assist late in the half and VC trailed 22-21 at intermission.
After Moorpark opened the second half with a score, the Pirates caught fire for a 9-0 run to take the lead. McKenzie hit one of two free shots and followed with an inside-out three with an assist by Coubal. LeBrun helped a 3-pointer by Salazar with 6:42 on the clock and VC led 28-23 before Coubal finished the streak with an offensive rebound and putback a minute later for the seven point advantage, 30-23. McKenzie answered a MC score with another deuce halfway through the stanza before the Raiders closed the period on a 8-0 run to hold a 33-32 margin headed to the final 10 minutes.
The Raiders stretched their lead with another bucket early in the fourth quarter before McKenzie ended the Pirates' skid with a mid-range jumper at the 8:09 mark. Unfortunately, the Raiders were able to expand their lead to 11, 47-36, with 3:20 remaining before the Pirates made one final push. McKenzie hit three of four free throws and followed with a high-arching shot from range to pull the Pirates to within 47-42 with 1:52 on the clock. LeBrun hit a 3-pointer to make it a one possession game, 48-45, with 1:03 left After a pair of Moorpark free throws, LeBrun had another triple nullified by a phantom traveling call with 12 seconds on the clock, and two more Moorpark free throws sealed the 52-45 decision.
Howery and Salazar each contributed five points to the effort and Phillips had six rebounds with three assists. Salazar also pulled in five boards.
Ventura will return home for its next Western State Conference contest. The Pirates host Los Angeles Pierce College on Saturday Jan. 20 for a 7:00 pm tip-off.