Tale of Two Halves for Vaqueros in Tight Loss to Hancock
By Jimmy Friery
SANTA BARBARA, CA – The Santa Barbara City College Women's Basketball team lost at home to Allan Hancock on Saturday evening, 71-63. The loss gives the Vaqueros a 2-3 conference record, with 1 more game before the midway point of conference play.
"We move onward and upward to prepare for Oxnard," head coach Sandrine Krul said.
The game began as a high-scoring affair, with the first quarter ending 20-19 Hancock. Leila Chisholm, Lily Mires, and Eva Carrejo all hit threes, and the Vaqueros offense would not slow down in the second quarter.
Six different Vaqueros scored in the second quarter accounting for 20 team points, giving the Vaqueros a 39-29 lead at halftime. Chisholm led all scorers in the first half with 10.
Out of the break, the Vaqueros took better care of the ball, limiting themselves to just 4 turnovers in the third frame. However, the free throw discrepancy became a problem, as Hancock shot more free throws in the third quarter (10) than the Vaqueros did the entire game (9). That, along with SBCC's shooting cooling off a tad, allowed Hancock to come back to just a 1-point deficit—52-51 SBCC—at the end of three.
After Chisholm made a three a few minutes into the fourth quarter, the Vaqueros held a 59-51 lead. Hancock would go on an 8-0 run from there, though, via 4 free throws and 2 layups, to tie the game at 59. Mires put the Vaqueros up 63-61 with just over 2 minutes remaining, but unfortunately that would be all the scoring for SBCC. Hancock closed out the game with 10 unanswered points, 6 from the line, to defeat the Vaqueros.
Overall, Hancock shot 36 free throws compared to Santa Barbara's 9. The Vaqueros turned the ball over quite a bit (26), while Hancock limited themselves to 13 turnovers.
Lily Mires led the team in points with 17 on 8 for 12 shooting, also grabbing 7 rebounds. Leila Chisholm had a great night all around with 13 points, 5 steals, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists.
Kiani Rojas also had 11 points and Eva Carrejo led all bench scorers with 10. Paityn Persson led the team in rebounds (8), assists (7), and blocks (4) all while scoring 8 points, as well.
The Vaqueros (2-3) head to Oxnard (0-5) on Wednesday night at 7:00 PM. SBCC's next win will be head coach Sandrine Krul's 300th in her career at SBCC.
