Alondra Jimenez and Sophia Torres tossed in 51 points on Thursday night as SBCC rallied for an 81-74 women's basketball win over San Diego City at the Sports Pavilion.
The Vaqueros (3-1) led 43-39 at halftime, then fell behind by 10 (64-54) early in the fourth quarter. Jade Jones made a layup to spark an 11-0 SBCC burst and Jordan Parkhurst's layup put SBCC on top, 65-64, with 6:48 to play.
Jimenez and Torres are former teammates at Santa Barbara High and both hit their season highs with 26 and 25 points, respectively.
Jimenez, a 5-5 sophomore point guard, scored 26 on 11-21 shooting and 4-7 from 3-point land. Torres, a 5-11 sophomore forward, added 25 points and 13 rebounds on 11-15 shooting. It was her third double-double in four games.
Jimenez also had six assists and five steals in the entertaining non-conference game that had 11 ties and 20 lead changes. Parkhurst added 10 points and four steals for SBCC, which trailed 23-21 after one quarter.
"Sharing the ball with my teammates is what I do best," said the left-handed Jimenez. "I shoot when I'm open and I let the game come to me. Sophia is my best friend and everything starts in the post. She's always in there banging away."
Torres had 11 points and four boards in the final 10 minutes and Jimenez scored eight. The Vaqueros forced nine fourth-quarter turnovers and only committed two.
San Diego took a 68-65 lead on Amy Daly's 3-pointer with 5:44 to play. The Vaqueros responded with a layup by Torres and a 16-footer from Jimenez that gave them the lead for good at 69-68. Jimenez snapped a 69-all tie with back-to-back triples that stretched the lead to four points, 75-71, with 2:26 to play.
The Knights (1-3) pulled within one, 75-74, on two free throws by Aliyah Milner. Torres made a pair of free throws and Jones (8 points, 7 rebounds) pushed the lead to five (79-74) with a layup at 0:55.
Milner, a freshman point guard, led all scorers with 34 points and nine rebounds. She hit 13-of-22 from the field and 7-8 from the free-throw line.
Eight of Torres' rebounds came at the offensive end. "I love offensive rebounds," said Torres. "I feel like a spring when I'm jumping."
When Santa Barbara fell behind by 10, Coach Sandrine Krul went to a full-court press and it paid immediate dividends. The Vaqueros outscored the Knights 27-10 in the final 9:47.
"That's what great teams are about, getting through adversity," said Krul. "This team decided not to give up, going down 10, and that's what this program is built on … MTXE (Mental Toughness, Extra Effort)."
San Diego doubled the Vaqueros in turnovers, 28-14, leading to 37 points for SBCC.
"We came out strong, then our defense got a little sloppy," said Torres. "We didn't let that stop us and we didn't put our heads down, we just kept playing. I remember near the end of the third quarter, Jada (Forsdick-Stevenson) and I were going in and we said, 'We got to put it down now.' "
The Vaqueros will continue their six-game, season-opening homestand on Saturday, Nov. 16 when they take on Antelope Valley at 3 p.m.
Sophia Torres posted a season-high 25 points and 13 rebounds for her third double-double
in four games. (Photo by Ken Sciallo/Sevilla Photography)