Alexander, Vaqueros hold off Orange Coast, 75-64

Sophomore forward Diamond Alexander tossed in 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds on Friday as SBCC held on for a 75-64 women's basketball victory over Orange Coast in a consolation semifinal at the Hancock Tournament.

Holly Barrera added 12 points, four rebounds and three assists off the bench for the Vaqueros (4-4). Aaliyah Pauling nearly had a double-double (10 points, 9 rebounds) and Hannah Rogers scored nine points.

Sydney Driggs tallied 19 of her game-high 33 points in the first half for the Pirates (0-7).

SBCC led 22-13 after a quarter and 36-28 at the half. The Vaqueros went up by 16 (60-44) on a free throw by Rogers with 7:19 to play.

OCC went on a 20-8 run and pulled within four (68-64) on a pair of free throws by Isabella Hollibaugh with 1:20 to play. Alexander made a jumper and a three-point play to spark a 7-0 game-ending run.

"Orange Coast was a very scrappy team and they never stopped playing hard," noted SBCC coach Sandrine Krul. "Their record doesn't reflect how good they are. Their shooting guard (Driggs) was so tough to defend because she has range and she can drive.

"We did a lot better defending her in the second half thanks to the defense of Jennae Mayberry and Sophia Torres."

The Vaqueros outshot the Pirates 43.9 to 36.5 percent and outrebounded them 45-35. Lauren Noggle grabbed seven rebounds. The Vaqueros shined in free-throw shooting (12-of-15) and turnovers (16) after struggling in those areas on Thursday night.

The Vaqueros will battle WSC North rival Cuesta (5-3) for the consolation title on Saturday at 1 p.m.