SANTA BARBARA, CA – The Santa Barbara City College Women's Basketball team lost to Santa Ana at home Friday afternoon, 55-51. The back-and-forth game had three lead changes and two ties in the fourth quarter alone.
"We knew Santa Ana plays very hard on each possession," head coach Sandrine Krul said. "We worked in practice to attack hard and dish and get to the defensive boards so we can run the ball."
Both teams traded buckets throughout the first half, with Santa Ana leading 13-11 at halftime and Santa Barbara leading 23-20 at halftime.
SBCC held Santa Ana to single-digit points in the third quarter, like the second quarter, and led 37-29 going into the final period.
However, with 8 SBCC turnovers and 5 Santa Ana offensive rebounds and 3 three-pointers in the fourth quarter, Santa Ana broke out for 26 points. Santa Ana took a 49-47 lead on a three with 2 minutes remaining, and 2 free throws with 16 seconds left iced the game, resulting in the 55-51 Santa Ana win.
Although Santa Ana only shot 27% from the field, 28 turnovers killed the Vaqueros, allowing 25 points off them.
"As I always say, possessions are liquid gold, and we have to value each possession. Turning the ball over 28 times threw us off our rhythm, but that's a credit to Santa Ana's defense," Krul said.
Paityn Persson led the team with 25 points, 16 rebounds, and 5 blocks, and echoed that sentiment:
"Our game plan was to break down their defense by going into the paint and that's exactly what we did tonight. Unfortunately, our shots weren't falling as a team and the turnovers were just too high. … Everyone has to be scoring and working together and I know that we will learn and grow from this game as a team."
Other leaders for SBCC included Leila Chisholm with 4 steals and Kiani Rojas with 4 assists. Freshman guard Kaylee Bosetti came off the bench to collect 7 rebounds, while Lily Mires and Eva Carrejo each had 6.
The Vaqueros only shot 6 free throws on the night, contrasting their opening game against LA Harbor where they went to the line a more aggressive 17 times.
"We learn and move forward," Krul concluded. "It's a long season and this team will bounce back even stronger because they are one of my most coachable teams in 20 years!" High praise for a promising group.
The 1-1 Vaqueros travel to Glendale next Thursday at 5:00 PM for their first road matchup of the season. They will be back at home on Tuesday, the 21st against Orange Coast.
