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Chanelle
Brennan
broke out of a three-game slump scoring 12
of her 15 points in the second half as VC
pulled away from Cuesta College 76-39 in San
Luis Obispo Saturday night. Donielle
Griggs had another steady game 15
points, and Jessi
Selleh returned from a two-game injury
hiatus to score 13 points. Michelle
Santizo had another multi-faceted game
with 14 points, seven rebounds, seven
assists, and four steals, as the Pirates
moved to 26-0 on the season, and 7-0 in
Western State Conference North Division
play.
The Pirates started out red hot, hitting six
of their first eight shots. Selleh led
the charge, hitting a 3-pointer from the
left wing off of Santizo's assist on the
very first possession of the contest.
Griggs hit a trey with 14:26 remaining in
the period to give Ventura (26-0, 7-0) a
15-4 advantage. At that point,
however, the Pirate offense became as cold
as a winter night in Minnesota. VC
missed its next 11 field goal attempts,
going scoreless for nearly eight minutes of
game time. Cuesta (6-19, 1-6) could
not take advantage, managing just seven
points in that span, closing the gap to
15-11. Griggs hit a pair of free
throws with 6:45 left to break the drought,
and Selleh hit Kris
King off of a pick and roll play on the
left side on the next possession to get the
Pirates untracked. On the next play,
Selleh stole the ball on the defensive end,
finishing the play with a lay-up to put
Ventura ahead 21-11 with 5:53 on the
clock. The Pirates outscored the
Cougars 17-4 over the final 6:45 of the half
to take a 32-15 lead into intermission.
VC began the second half slowly as well,
managing just five points in the first five
minutes. Things heated up quickly when
Santizo hit back-to-back baskets, a two then
a three, in the sixth minute to make the
score 43-19. Griggs converted an
old-fashioned 3-point play after getting
fouled on a high-flying drive to the hoop at
the 12:01 mark when Brennan awoke from her
three-game slumber. The conference's
field-goal percentage leader nailed a
3-pointer off of a Santizo pass with 11:10
remaining, and made a steal on the next
possession, finishing the break off of
another Santizo pass 20 seconds later.
Back-to back trifectas by Santizo and Griggs
pretty much made the jell-o jiggle as the
Pirates held a 59-30 advantage with 9:41 on
the clock. Ventura doubled the Cougars
70-35 on a free throw by Julie
Heurung at the 5:51 mark, and VC cruised
in for the 76-39 victory.
Griggs and Brennan each scored 15 points to
lead the offense while Santizo and Selleh
netted 14 and 13 points, respectively.
Santizo had seven rebounds and Brennan had
six boards for the Pirates. Santizo
dished out seven assists, and Brennan and
Santizo led the defensive effort with six
and four steals, respectively. Selleh,
Griggs, and Heurung each had three steals.
Ventura returns home on Wednesday Feb. 4 to
host second-place LA Pierce. It will
be the annual WBCA
Pink Zone Game promoting breast
cancer awareness and raising money for the Ribbons
of Life Breast Cancer Foundation
of Ventura. Activities will begin at
5:00 pm during the men's game, and will
include information booths, "special
hearts" by the VC psychology club, and
a silent
auction. All Fans are
encouraged to wear pink to the game, which
is scheduled for a 7:00 pm tip-off.
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