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     It turned out to be another banner night for the Ventura College women's basketball team.  The Pirates overwhelmed their cross-county rival Moorpark Raiders in a 77-52 blow-out that was less close than the final score indicated.  And on the way back to Ventura, the team learned of LA Pierce's 80-66 win over second place Santa Barbara putting both the Brahmas and Vaqueros three games behind the undefeated Pirates with three games left in the season.  With that turn of events, the Pirates clinched at least a tie in the conference race, their 19th consecutive Western State Conference championship, a 19-Peat.  VC can capture the crown outright on Saturday night when they host Santa Barbara in a Valentine's Day special.

     Moorpark (14-13, 6-4) captured the lead early, banking in a 3-pointer on their opening possession.  Jessi Selleh answered with a trey of her own less than a minute later to tie the score, and Julie Heurung gave Ventura (28-0, 9-0) at the 17:53 mark of the opening period.  Donielle Griggs hit a triple from deep in the left corner off of Michelle Santizo's assist to complete an 8-0 Pirate run, giving them an 8-3 advantage less than three minutes into the contest.  The Raiders made a mini 7-4 run over the next four minutes, closing the gap to 12-10 before VC rattled off a 10-0 run to give themselves some breathing room.  Santizo sparked the run with a pair of buckets, and Heurung added an old-fashioned 3-point play at the 10:29 mark.  Griggs closed the run with a basket with 9:52 on the clock, giving the Pirates a 22-10 advantage.

     Moorpark managed to get the score back to within six points, 24-18, with 7:54 remaining in the half, but the Pirates left little doubt going into intermission, closing the half with a 18-2 spurt.  Erika Ward got things going with a 3-pointer and an inside runner on consecutive trips, and Chanelle Brennan added a pair of buckets as well.  Ward hit a shot with 1:12 remaining in the period, and Brennan connected on a fast break lay up from a pass by Ward with 16 seconds remaining.  Ventura led at halftime 42-20.

     The second half began just as the first ended, with Ventura dominating.  The Pirates were hitting on all cylinders on both ends of the floor, allowing just a single Raider field goal in the first seven minutes of the period while scoring 18 points of their own.  Heurung scored the first six points of the half for VC with a pair of free throws and a pair of buckets in the paint.  VC used a blocked shot by Brennan to fuel a Selleh to Kris King fast break to take a 50-22 lead at the 16:54 point, and Selleh hit her won shot on the next possession to make the advantage an even 30 points.  Ward hit a basket and a pair of charity tosses, followed by another basket by King, and a pair of free throws by Griggs to put VC ahead 60-22 with 13:07 left in the game, completing a 36-4 Pirate run over 15 minutes and sandwiched around halftime. 

     Ward connected with a 3-point play on a put-back tip inside and a free throw, and Brennan added another deuce, followed by a pair of free throws by Griggs to put VC ahead 67-27 with 10:22 remaining.  At that point, one could use a plethora of signature phrases to indicate that the jell-o was jiggling, the butter was getting hard, the fat lady was singing, etc...  To their credit, the Raiders kept playing hard, and closed the final margin to 25 points, but the Pirates made the outcome academic.  Irma Rivera used an assist from Christine McPherson with 1:00 on the clock to hit a 3-pointer, her first field goal of the season, to make the final margin 77-52 in favor of Ventura.

     Ward led another balanced Ventura offensive effort with 16 points.  Griggs and Heurung each contributed 13, while Santizo added 11 points.  Selleh and Brennan had nine and seven points, respectively.  Heurung and Santizo each completed double-doubles with 10 rebounds apiece, Ward grabbed six boards, and Brennan and Griggs each pulled down five caroms.  Ward dished out six assists and Brennan had three blocked shots.

     The Pirate win was coupled with LA Pierce's 80-66 win over Santa Barbara.  VC, now 9-0 in conference play, has taken a 3-game lead over Santa Barbara (7-3) and Pierce (6-3) in the WSC North Race with three games remaining, thus clinching at least a tie for the conference championship.  The title is the 19th consecutive one for Coach Ned Mircetic and the Pirates.  VC has a chance to clinch their 18th consecutive outright title (VC tied Moorpark in 1990-91) at home against Santa Barbara on Saturday Feb. 14.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 pm, and the game follows the VC men's game which begins at 5:00 pm.  Both games can be heard on www.HomeFieldSports.com.