SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The Vaqueros battled hard on day two of the SBCC MTXE Tournament, but a second half surge from Butte College saw the visitors pull away to win it 49-27.
Santa Barbara (1-2) was led on offense by guard Katrina Regalado, who went for 12 points to go along with three rebounds and a pair of steals. She is the only Vaquero to score in double-figures in every game this season.
"Tonight was a defensive game. We could not find the rim tonight, but every step of the way we played hard and that is very important," head coach Sandrine Krul said. "This is a great learning experience to play against a high quality, high caliber Butte team."
Good pressure from both defenses resulted in a struggle to score throughout the first two quarters. The Vaqueros went into the break trailing 16-10 following a first half in which Butte (1-1) hit the only three for either team.
Guard Isabella Jensen Williams found her shooting touch early in the third, knocking down SBCC's first triple of the night to make it 18-13 in favor of the Roadrunners. However, that's when the Butte offense finally hit its stride.
Roadrunner guard Lena Fogle answered back with a three-pointer several possessions later to start a 15-0 Butte run, giving the visitors a commanding 33-13 advantage. Fogle finished with 17 points while her teammate Meghan Weinrich led all players with 20 points and 5 steals.
SBCC would cut into the lead on back-to-back plays, with Regalado first converting a traditional three-point play and Jensen Williams hitting her second three of the quarter to make it 33-19. Unfortunately for the Vaqueros, the Roadrunners answered with another big run to put the game to bed.
Jensen Williams ended up with nine points and four rebounds. She also tallied a team-high two steals as did Regalado and forward Sela Dowell. Forward Trinity Scott led the Vaqueros with seven rebounds.
Off the bench, guards Berlin Faiaipau and Julia De La Cruz scored four and two points, respectively.
"Butte won the game in the third by hitting shots, but the rest of the game, we were pretty much even," Krul said. "Losing a game is never fatal and thank goodness we get to come back and compete tomorrow in less than 24 hours."
The Vaqueros will close out their home-opening weekend in the final game of the tournament on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. against Victor Valley.
