After a poor first half performance, the VC women's basketball team had a complete turnaround in the second half in a 60-51 victory at Santa Barbara Saturday night. The Vaqueros led 30-16 at intermission before VC turned things around with a 23-6 third quarter to take a lead they would not relinquish. Alexa Coubal led the way with 15 points and seven rebounds and Tiernan Phillips turned in a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds along with four assists and three steals. Sam McKenzie netted 13 points.
The first half couldn't have been much worse for the Pirates as they shot just 3-28 from the floor and amassed 17 turnovers against the Vaqueros. Santa Barbara went ahead 16-6 after one quarter of play and built a 24-9 lead before Amari Hurt scored a 3-point play at the 4:14 mark to give the Pirates some life. Santa Barbara was able to string together three steals and lay-ups on three straight possessions late and led Ventura 30-14 at halftime.
Ventura was able refocus during the break and came out ready to play in the second half. Phillips dropped a dime to Coubal for two on the first possession, then assisted a three by McKenzie on the second as VC began a 16-2 run to open the third quarter. Coubal answered two free throws by Santa Barbara with an offensive rebound and putback for two, then McKenzie nailed two charity shots. Phillips assisted another Coubal deuce and McKenzie scored on a breakaway to pull Ventura to within 32-27 with 5:48 left in the period. Alexis Howery finished the run, taking a pass from Leslie Salazar and hitting a shot from range to make it 32-30 for SBCC.
The Vaqueros scored their first field goal of the stanza at the 4:12 mark before Coubal scored again inside. Two minutes later McKenzie assisted a three by Olivia Huynh as the Pirates took their first lead of the game, one that they would not relinquish. Elena Ferrara scored on a short jumper late and the Pirates led 37-36 at the end of the third quarter.
The Pirates continued the onslaught in the fourth quarter as Salazar and Coubal each scored buckets to extend the VC advantage. Phillips sandwiched a pair of lay-ups around a steal for a 45-38 lead with 7:03 remaining and McKenzie answered a Santa Barbara 3-point play with a pair of foul shots. Salazar assisted another Phillips score with 3:44 remaining and two more McKenzie foul shots put VC ahead 51-42 after the next possession. McKenzie followed with a steal and lay-up for a double-digit Pirate lead and Salazar assisted a 3-pointer by Howery deep in the left corner for the dagger and a 56-42 Pirate margin with 2:24 on the clock.
Salazar ended the game with eight assists, all coming in the second half, and four rebounds and Howery totaled six points with five rebounds and two steals while playing an excellent floor game and leading the Pirate defensive effort. McKenzie also grabbed four boards and totaled three steals.
The Pirates will return home for the final regular season game of the year on Friday Feb. 23. They host Allan Hancock at 7:00 pm at the Athletic Event Center.