Aaliyah Pauling came within three assists of a triple double on Saturday and SBCC dominated the second half in a 77-56 women's basketball win over Butte on the final day of the SBCC Crossover.
Pauling, a 6-foot sophomore point guard from Spokane, Wash., hit 7-14 from the field and 4-7 on 3-pointers en route to a game-high 22 points. She also had 10 rebounds and seven assists for the Vaqueros (2-0).
Santa Barbara led 34-30 at halftime, then outscored the Roadrunners 20-12 in the third quarter and 43-26 in the second half.
The Vaqueros showed their power on the backboards, winning the rebound battle 54-34. They shot 38.9 percent and hit 7-of-21 from 3-point range.
"It's a good weekend when you can pull out two wins and play all your players," said 15th-year head coach Sandrine Krul. "We have been working on our gap defense and tonight against a very athletic and quick Butte team, we were able to get stops against their very fast guard, No. 23."
That No. 23, Chava Rogers, led the Roadrunners (1-1) with 16 points and six rebounds but also had seven turnovers.
Lei Talaro added 10 points, four rebounds and four assists for the Vaqueros and Tatiana Ong had 10 points and six rebounds in just 13 minutes off the bench.
Jennae Mayberry and Sierra Cavaletto both contributed eight points and five boards.
The Vaqueros will host their eight-team MTXE Tournament on Friday through Sunday, opening against De Anza on Friday at 6 p.m. It will be their third straight game against a team from Northern California.
