Vaqueros Drop Conference Showdown to Moorpark, 68-51

By AJ Nagbe

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The Vaquero Women's Basketball team dropped a conference showdown to first-place Moorpark 68-51 on Saturday night at Robertson Gym, falling to 5-2 in Western State Conference play.

Siena Hoban led Santa Barbara with 18 points and eight rebounds, while Aariah Fox added nine points and seven rebounds. Milan Jackson chipped in eight points, but the Vaqueros struggled to find an offensive rhythm against Moorpark's suffocating defense. SBCC was held to just seven points in the third quarter as the Raiders pulled away to secure the victory.

The game was tightly contested through the first half, with nine ties and nine lead changes as Santa Barbara held a slim 28-27 advantage at halftime. However, Moorpark dominated the third quarter, outscoring the Vaqueros 29-7 to take control of the game. The Raiders shot 48.1% from the field compared to SBCC's 25.8% and controlled the boards 45-37. Santa Barbara struggled from beyond the arc, hitting just 3-of-28 three-point attempts at 10.7%, while Moorpark's defense forced 18 turnovers and held the Vaqueros to just 18 points in the paint.

Coach Sandrine Krul focused on the positives despite the 68-51 loss to first-place Moorpark. "I looked at it quarter by quarter, and if we don't play the third quarter, we win 44-39," Krul said. "We just got a little disorganized, but the resiliency of our team to keep fighting back--we outscored them in the fourth. We just missed some defensive assignments in the third."

Krul praised the team's effort in three of the four quarters. "I'm so proud of our team playing a great first half and a great fourth quarter," she said. "Our team showed a lot of courage tonight. They didn't fold, kept playing, kept chipping away. That third quarter just got away from us."

She emphasized the team's approach to adversity and ability to learn from setbacks. "I always say you either win or you learn, so we will learn to sustain and keep doing what we do well and not go away from what's working," Krul said. "As we always say, NPM, next play mentality. We've got to get ready for Oxnard on Monday."

Looking ahead, Krul highlighted the team's attitude and resilience. "One of the beautiful things about this team is when we do lose a game, it's never bad attitude, bad body language," she said. "They're like, 'OK, we've got to get the next one.' That's a blessing to coach a group like that. I haven't had that in a decade. Really proud of this team, even though we came up short. We played three out of four quarters outstanding, so we've got to get four out of four together for Oxnard."

Santa Barbara (16-7, 5-2) looks to bounce back when it hosts Oxnard on Wednesday, Feb. 4, at 7 p.m. at Robertson Gym.