SBCC had its top three players foul out in the fourth quarter on Saturday night and Cuesta took advantage, outscoring the Vaqueros 25-15 on the way to a 75-72 women's basketball win in San Luis Obispo.
The Vaqueros (13-11, 4-4 WSC North) led 39-32 at the half and 57-50 after three quarters. SBCC made seven more field goals but Cuesta (8-17, 3-6) enjoyed a plus-14 advantage at the free-throw line, hitting 24-of-31 compared to 10-11 for the visitors.
Destinee King made 8-9 from the field and led Santa Barbara with 16 points and 10 rebounds. It was her 13th double-double of the season. Kesler Johnson had 15 points while Jocelin Petatan scored 12 points with six steals and three rebounds. All three players fouled out in the final period.
"We didn't adjust well to how the game was being called," said coach Sandrine Krul. "It's a learning lesson for us. We played hard but when you're on the road, you have to make your shots. And you can't turn the ball over 32 times and expect to win."
Jeanie Pattison added 11 points, five rebounds and five assists.
The Vaqueros went up by 14 at 51-37 on a basket by Johnson with 5:37 to go in the third quarter. The Cougars outscored them by seven the rest of the period and then opened the fourth quarter on a 14-7 run to tie the game at 64.
The Vaqueros outshot Cuesta 48.3 to 41.5 percent and won the board battle, 27-19.
SBCC will host Oxnard on Wednesday and Moorpark on Saturday with both starting at 5 p.m.
