Vaquero rally falls short in 72-66 loss to Moorpark

SBCC erased a 19-point second-half deficit with a stellar rally on Saturday before Moorpark hit back-to-back 3-pointers to pull out a 72-66 women's basketball victory in the third-place game of the Santa Ana Tournament.

Destinee King led the Vaqueros (4-6) with 25 points and 12 rebounds. She hit 12-of-17 from the field. Kay Phosakham drained 4-10 from long range and scored 14 points. Jeanie Pattison had eight points, five assists and four rebounds.

Moorpark (3-5) used an 18-2 first-half run to take a 37-23 lead at halftime. Sydney Perry scored 14 of her 25 points in the first half for the Raiders.

Moorpark tallied the first five points of the third quarter to stretch the lead to 19 at 42-23. The Vaqueros ended the quarter on a 23-10 run to pull within six, 52-46.

"We were on the verge of being blown out, then we switched our defenses and before you know it, we were up 57-56," said coach Sandrine Krul. "It was such a great game with both teams making big-time shots in the last two minutes."

Santa Barbara, which led 9-0 in the opening minutes, regained the lead midway through the final period when Pattison nailed a 3-pointer to make it 57-56. A triple by Phosakham put the Vaqueros up 64-63 with 2:24 to play but Perry and Emily Garner answered with 3's to give the Raiders a 69-64 advantage with 1:11 to go.

The Vaqueros outshot the Raiders 60 to 31 percent in the second half and enjoyed a 47.4 to 44.8 advantage for the game. Moorpark had the edge in free throws, making 14-19 compared to 4-14 for SBCC.

Jocelin Petatan had seven rebounds, helping the Vaqueros to a 38-27 edge.

The Vaqueros will play Victor Valley in the opening round of the San Diego City Tournament on Friday at 3 p.m.