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The
Pirates could not seem to buy a basket in
the first half. They did not have any
problems in the second as they hit 10
3-pointers in the final
period to defeat Oxnard College 73-32
Wednesday night at the Condor Center. Erika
Ward hit three consecutive triples at
one point in the second half, and seven
Pirates splashed from 3-point land in the
final 20 minutes, as the Pirates reached the
30-win mark for the first time since the
2002-03 season. It is also the first
30-win regular season since the state final
four team of 2002-03, the sixth all time at
VC (30 in 1995-96; 31 in 1996-97; 31 in
1997-98; 33 in 1999-00, and 30 in 2002-03).
Both teams started the night off cold.
Oxnard (8-19, 3-8) took an early lead
connecting on one of two free throws, while
VC managed just a pair of Kris
King free throws in the game's first
three minutes. The Pirates turned the
ball over twice and missed their first three
shots before Ward hit a runner along the
right baseline with 16:40 on the clock for
their first field goal. Ventura (30-0,
11-0) continued to slowly built its lead
despite poor shooting (VC would shoot 9-28
in the first half), moving ahead 10-1 on Michelle
Santizo's basket with 14:47 remaining in
the first half. After missing their
first eight shots, the Condors finally hit a
field goal at the 12:09 mark ending the 10-0
Pirate run. Ventura would go ahead
14-3 on Chanelle
Brennan's charity toss with 11:10 on the
clock, but would not score again for four
minutes. Oxnard struggled even worse
offensively, as they managed but a
single free throw during the Pirates'
drought which was broken by a strong drive
and basket from the left wing by Donielle
Griggs at the 6:54 mark. Brennan
hit a basket with 1:08 remaining to put VC
ahead 28-6 before the Pirates allowed Oxnard
to score five points in the final minute of
the period, making the score 28-11 at
intermission.
Griggs opened the second half with a bucket
on VC's opening possession of the second
half. Jessi
Selleh soon initiated the Pirates' reign
(of 3-pointers) with a long range bomb on
the next possession. Following a
Heurung put back for two, Santizo nailed a
trifecta at the 17:06 mark giving Ventura a
38-13 advantage. Another Heurung
bucket was followed by a trio of long-range
salvos from Ward in under 1:30, giving the
Pirates a 49-19 lead at the 13:47 point of
the half. Selleh hit another 3-pointer
on the next possession, and that was
followed by a driving fast break lay-up by
Santizo. Griggs continued the 3-point
barrage with a shot at the 12:01 mark making
the Pirate advantage 57-21. Following
a King basket with 10:59 remaining, the
Pirate offense cooled a bit, as VC would not
score again until Amanda
Padilla converted her own 3-pointer at
the 4:35 mark. Christine
McPherson hit a 3-pointer from the left
wing with 3:50 on the clock, and Irma
Rivera nailed the Pirates' 10th trey of
the half with 2:01 remaining, and VC cruised
to the 73-32 victory.
Ward led the Ventura offense with 16 points
while Griggs and King netted 11 and 10
points, respectively. Santizo had nine
points ahile Heurung and Selleh each tallied
seven points. Heurung led the Pirates'
rebounding attack with eight boards and King
had six rebounds while Brennan grabbed
five. Santizo had four assists while
Brennan and Heurung each had two blocked
shots.
In addition to the honors of this 2008-09
team, Head
Coach Ned Mircetic also reached a
milestone Wednesday night. The win was
his 560th career victory, moving him into a
tie for third place all time in California
Community College with Caren Franci, who
coached at Santa Rosa Junior College in the
80's 90's and into the early years of this
decade.. The win moved Mircetic ahead
of pioneering coach Colleen Riley, who had
559 wins at Fullerton College in the 1970's
and 80's. Tom Martinez, retired coach
of San Mateo, is currently second on the
list with 663 wins and Karen Welliver is the
all-time wins leader at Cerritos College
with 570 wins and counting.
Ventura will host Allan Hancock College on
Saturday night at 7:00 pm at the Athletic
Event Center in an attempt to close out a
perfect regular season. The team,
which has already clinched their 19th
consecutive Western State Conference
championship, will honor its five sophomores
before the game. The game will follow
the Pirate men's team attempt to win their
own WSC title against the Bulldogs at 5:00
pm. Both games can be heard online at www.HomeFieldSports.com.
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