Pirates Fight to End Against Irvine Valley

The Ventura College women's basketball team held a 26-23 lead at halftime but could not hold on, dropping a 51-48 decision to Irvine Valley on the opening night of the VC Crossover at the Athletic Event Center. Sam McKenzie and Milan Garcia each netted an even dozen for the Pirates and Alexa Coubal contributed 11 in the game.

The Pirates got off to a slow start, falling behind 11-2 in the first five minutes of play. Garcia's runner with 3:29 remaining in the first quarter ended the Ventura skid and Alanna Topete followed with a three. McKenzie then answered an IVC triple with her own long range bomb and the Pirates trailed 16-10 at the end of the first quarter.

Ventura came alive in the second quarter beginning with a 3-pointer by McKenzie on the first possession of the stanza. Charnelle Nichols scored a deuce and McKenzie hit another triple to pull VC to within 19-18 with 6:10 left in the half. Coubal answered an Irvine Valley basket and Nichols' three from McKenzie's dime gave VC a 23-21 edge on the next possession. Garcia hit three free throws down the stretch for a 26-23 halftime lead.

Garcia started out the second half with a strong drive and score to extend the VC lead to 28-23. The Lasers turned things around at that point, however, going on an 11-0 run to retake control of the game. Garcia's field goal midway through the third quarter ended the run, and a pair of free throws and a bucket by Coubal kept things close, but Irvine led 38-34 at the quarter break.

VC kept things close in the final period. Garcia scored in the first minute to pull the Pirates to within two, and Danielle Salazar's bucket with 7:08 remaining made it 40-38 for IVC. The Lasers scored a pair of baskets to open a six-point margin but Coubal's old-fashioned 3-point play halved the deficit 44-41 with 2:33 on the clock. Irvine answered with a three, but a long two from Garcia and a fast break from McKenzie to Coubal brought the Pirates back to within 47-45 in the final minute. After a Laser basket, McKenzie hit a three with seven seconds remaining to pull the Pirates to within 49-48, but a pair of IVC free throws sealed the final 51-48 result.

Ventura will play El Camino on the second day of the VC Crossover, Saturday Dec. 28 at 4:00 pm.