Ventura
73,
@
Santa
Ana
55
A
balanced scoring attack, and an incredible
shooting first half propelled the Pirates
to a 73-55 non-conference road win at
Santa Ana College on Friday night. Six VC
players scored at least eight points, led
by sophomore co-captains Donielle
Griggs and Jessi
Selleh, and Ventura connected on 63
percent of their first half field goal
attempts (19-30), including scoring on
seven consecutive possessions, as the
Pirates won their 13th consecutive game to
start the season. Ventura, ranked #1
in the state, will play at #15 Orange
Coast College in a battle a pair of Pirate
teams in a Saturday matinee at 1:00 pm in
Costa Mesa.
Ventura (13-0) got started early, as Michelle
Santizo hit a 3-pointer from the right
corner off of a Julie
Heurung assist 20 seconds into the
game giving the Pirates an advantage they
would not relinquish. Santa Ana
(2-11) stayed close, hitting three of
their first four shots, making the score
7-6 VC at the 17:13 mark of the opening
half. The Pirates scored the next
six points on buckets from Santizo, Erika
Ward, and Chanelle
Brennan to begin to pull away, 13-6,
with 14:17 remaining. Two minutes
later, leading 15-8, Ventura scored on
seven consecutive possessions, scoring at
the following times: 11:30 (Griggs),
11:06 (Kris
King, free throws), 10:35 (Brennan),
10:04 (King), 9:43 (Santizo), 9:05 (Heurung),
and 8:33 (Lacey
Escamilla, 3-pointer). During
that span, six different players hit shots
as VC expanded the advantage to
30-11. The Dons scored four of the
next six points before Ventura closed the
final six minutes of the half on a 14-2
run for a 46-17 lead. In the period,
the Pirates connected on 19 of 30 shots
form the floor, a 63 percent clip.
With a big lead at the break, VC seemed to
loose a little of its fire in the second
half while the Dons refocused their
energy. Although the game was never
in doubt, the Pirates efforts at time
were. Santa Ana began hitting their
shots, and Ventura turned the ball too
many possessions, 16 in the half and 24
for the game (the Pirates average 14
turnovers per game), and the Dons began
closing the gap. Selleh hit a
3-pointer at the 11:12 mark to make the
score 60-32, and she hit another
long-range bomb with 5:10 left to play
giving VC a 67-41 lead. Santa Ana
closed the game outscoring VC 12-3, making
the final score 73-55.
Griggs and Selleh each had 12 points to
lead the Pirates, while Brennan netted 10
points. Santizo, King, and Heurug
contributed nine, eight, and seven points,
respectively. King and Heurung let
the Pirate Windex attack with nine
rebounds each. Amanda
Padilla and Heurung each handed out
three assists while Brennan and Griggs
each had four steals. Heurung also
had three blocked shots. The Pirates
will face off against the Pirates, of
Orange Coast College that is, Saturday at
1:00 pm in Costa Mesa. They return
to the Athletic Event Center for the first
of six consecutive home games on Friday
Dec. 19 against Cypress at 7:00 pm in the
We Play Hard Crossover. VC hosts LA
Trade Tech on Saturday Dec. 20, also at
7:00 pm.
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