Cuesta downs cold-shooting Vaqueros 58-34

Cuesta jumped out to a 23-10 lead on Friday and SBCC had a hard time shooting the ball in a 58-34 loss in the semifinals of Hancock's Lady Bulldog Classic.

The Cougars (9-2), who led 35-23 at halftime, outshot the Vaqueros 43 to 21.8 percent. Santa Barbara (3-7) made just 12.5 percent (3-24) in the second half and was outscored 23-11.

Falecia Cabral topped Cuesta with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Stella Dulay had seven points and six rebounds for the Vaqueros.

"We played hard and reached our goal of holding Cuesta in the 50s but we just couldn't make a basket," said coach Sandrine Krul. "We actually played really hard on defense."

SBCC ended the first half on an 8-2 run, only to see the Cougars rip off their own 8-2 burst to open the second half and boost the lead to 43-25.

Santa Barbara will take on the Santa Maria All-Stars in Saturday's third-place game at 3 p.m.