Vaqueros Show Toughness, Split Two Close Games at El Camino Christmas Crossover
TORRANCE, CA – The Santa Barbara City College Women's Basketball team split two hard fought games this weekend at the El Camino Christmas Crossover tournament—an overtime win over Riverside and a single-digit loss to Santa Ana.
"Man, we played awesome this weekend," head coach Sandrine Krul said. The Vaqueros were without starter Paityn Persson due to an injury, and an illness running through the locker room has not helped, either.
"I'm so proud of them for fighting each game and, as I told the team, we are coming together," Krul continued. "We have 4 players out of 11 this weekend sick, so I'm just proud of the resolve."
"Our team came together and executed this weekend," Grace Caraballo said, drawing some tough defensive assignments but proving solid for SBCC. "We overcame a lot of hardships that we have taken better control over than past games."
On Friday against Riverside, the Vaqueros offense came out somewhat slowly, scoring just 24 points in the first half on the way to a 33-24 deficit.
Both teams scored 23 points in the third quarter, so despite SBCC's offense coming alive, they still found themselves down 9.
The Vaqueros trailed 60-52 with just under eight minutes left in the game, but Kiani Rojas made a three to tie and Kaylee Bosetti made a layup to take the lead shortly after. In the span of three minutes, the Vaqueros went on a 12-0 run, taking a 64-60 advantage.
Riverside tied it at 64 with about two minutes remaining, and Kaylee Bosetti again made a layup to retake the lead. After Riverside made a shot in the final seconds, regulation ended 68-68.
Kaylee Bosetti and Kiani Rojas charged the Vaqueros in the second half with 16 and 12 points, respectively. SBCC outscored Riverside 21-12 in the fourth quarter.
In overtime, both teams traded buckets to 74-74 before Jaden Bone made a layup with less than a minute to go to give the Vaqueros the lead for good. Bone made another jumper with 14 seconds left to ice the game, and Lily Mires drained both of her free throws with 5 seconds left to give the Vaqueros a gritty 80-76 comeback win.
"To beat RCC, who are very good and huge in the post, [is awesome]," Krul said proudly.
"Forced into overtime, we took our gameplay up and kept our foot on the gas pedal and came out on top," Caraballo added.
Kiani Rojas (23), Kaylee Bosetti (20), and Leila Chisholm (14) all set or tied season highs in points. Rojas also led the team with 6 steals. Jaden Bone came off the bench to lead the team in assists with 6. Lily Mires followed up her double-double a week prior and dominated the glass with 18 rebounds, including 7 offensively.
The Vaqueros looked to build on the win in game two on Saturday came against Santa Ana. Kaylee Bosetti parlayed her strong second half Friday to a phenomenal first half with 19 points. The freshman guard made 5 threes on 9 attempts, leading the Vaqueros to a 36-33 lead at the break.
The game stayed competitive in the third quarter, ending 49-45 SBCC.
Santa Ana tied the score at 51 with eight minutes remaining, and then took the lead on a three with six minutes left. They would not look back from there. Up 3 with less than a minute left, Santa Ana made enough of their free throws to down the Vaqueros, 65-60.
Kaylee Bosetti broke her previous season high in points with 25 points, also grabbing 5 rebounds. Jaden Bone and Kylee Garcia each had 4 assists to tie for the team lead. Grace Caraballo played great defense and led the team in rebounds with 9.
"It's great playing on a team with solid chemistry who's able to work both sides of the court. It allows everyone to have great energy and push each other to win," Caraballo said.
"This weekend our team played together both games and played so hard," Krul concluded.
The Vaqueros (4-9) play at Antelope Valley on Wednesday afternoon to round out the calendar year, before coming back January 4 at Fullerton. The next home game is scheduled for Wednesday, January 10 at 7 PM against Cuesta, the first conference game of the season.