By Jimmy Friery
SAN MARCOS, CA – The Santa Barbara City College Women's Basketball team lost their SoCal Regionals semifinal game at 6-seed Palomar on Saturday night, 83-58.
"I'm proud of this group for hanging tough all season," head coach Sandrine Krul said. "They had to fight a ton of adversity."
The 22-seeded Vaqueros traveled 306 miles south to upset 11-seed Imperial Valley on Wednesday night, just to travel 192 miles south to Palomar a few days later.
The game started off rough, as the Vaqueros found themselves down 16-2 in Palomar's domed gym about 5 minutes in. Palomar's full court press created problems, as well as their quick-shooting offense. However, at the end of the first quarter, the Vaqueros halted the momentum, and the score was a manageable 23-11.
Both teams had difficulty scoring early in the second quarter. For Palomar, after scoring 23 in the first, they would only make one more basket until 2 minutes before halftime. A Kaylee Bosetti three brought the Vaqueros within single digits at 25-17, which was immediately followed by a Leila Chisholm jumper. The Vaqueros were in business.
Chisholm was fouled shooting a three, and the sophomore made all 3 of her free throw attempts. She then got a steal on the ensuing Palomar possession which led to a Lily Mires layup. Just like that, SBCC was only down 2 at 26-24. Palomar pushed it to 31-24 will a minute left, before 2 Paityn Persson free throws, a Kiani Rojas three (assisted by Persson), and a Rojas steal and layup tied the game at 31.
The turning point came in the third quarter. After both teams went back and forth the first few minutes, midway through the quarter, Palomar regained a double-digit lead at 46-35. SBCC responded with a Bosetti three and a Mires layup, making it 46-40. Rojas hit a three shortly after, and it was 48-43 Palomar with 3 minutes left in the quarter.
From there, the 5-point deficit quickly snowballed into a 21-point deficit; a string of fouls and turnovers resulted in a 16-0 Palomar run in a 2-minute span. Suddenly, heading to the final frame, the Vaqueros were down 64-46.
"Palomar is a good team. … They sped us up, and we didn't want to speed up," Krul said. "They upped their intensity and we didn't match it in spurts."
In the fourth, the Vaqueros fought valiantly with a handful of players in foul trouble. The final score ended at 83-58.
Kiani Rojas stayed hot with 19 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals. Paityn Persson's performance was business as usual with 11 points, and team leads in rebounds (8), steals (5), and blocks (4).
Leila Chisholm played all 40 minutes, scoring 9 points with 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. Kaylee Bosetti also had 9 points, grabbing 6 rebounds, dishing 3 assists (team lead), and swiping 2 steals. The freshman looks to be a key contributor on next year's team.
Lily Mires was dependable as always off the bench, scoring 8 points with 5 rebounds, 3 steals, and a block.
Team-wise, the Vaqueros shot significantly better than Palomar at 41% to 32%. The turnover battle was tight in the high-energy contest, with the Vaqueros giving away 29 to Palomar's 28. The big discrepancies came in rebounds (Palomar's 50 to SBCC's 35), and free throws. In the latter, Palomar was excellent, making 28 of 32 (87.5%), while the Vaqueros left a lot of points at the line, making 8 of 24 (33%).
"I said it at the beginning of November and I'm saying it now, I will miss this team," Krul ended proudly. "So coachable on the court and off—my most coachable team. They have nothing to hang their heads on."
The Vaqueros can hold their heads high; along with the quality play, they also are phenomenal in the classroom, earning a team GPA above 3.7. Winning the program's first playoff game in over a decade, the foundation and legacy the graduating sophomores are leaving is something they should all be extremely proud of. No less, the history of being the team that brought Krul her 300th SBCC win.
