Raiders’ women’s basketball took down Santa Barbara City College 55-34 on Jan. 24.
Moorpark College women’s basketball team faced up against a Western State Conference Northern Division opponent, Santa Barbara City College Vaqueros, at home in Raider Sports Pavilion at 5 pm. Moorpark Guard, #10 Emily Herring, knew that they needed to secure this victory after a tough Ventura College loss.
“Losing to Ventura was definitely really rough,” Herring said. “We really needed a bounce back game.”
The Raiders did exactly what they have done for the past two Conference games against Ventura and Oxnard Colleges, starting the game off with a huge lead and a breathtaking run. The Raiders started off with a 12-2 lead with only four minutes taken off the clock in the first quarter, which was then extended to a 16-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Moorpark did not take the Vaqueros lightly and continued to push forward with excellent play on both sides of the court to extend the lead to 28-6 with about three and a half minutes left in the second quarter. In that time span, from the first quarter untill the lead mentioned, the Raiders went on a 12 to zero run, and continued to play well to enter halftime with a 34-11 lead.
Herring believed that they could maintain their composure with a lead, and knew that they were even more motivated for the Conference title for which they yearn.
“It is always hard when you’re winning and coming back” Herring said. “Reflecting on the VC game I think we just really wanted to prove ourselves that we are not a bad team. We’re going to hit hard and smack around anybody that comes and thinks that they can take our angle away.”
When the Raiders came out of the halftime break, they continued their great play and brought their lead to a 26 point advantage, 38-12, with slightly less than two minutes taken off the third quarter clock.
Most basketball games, however, feature a run by both teams which was seen in this game. When the score was 45-18 with about one minute left in the third quarter with Moorpark in the lead, the Vaqueros went on a little run of their own to bring the score to 49-27 with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter.
The Raiders would not let Santa Barbara City College fully come back in the game, because they were able to play lock-down defense along with hitting quality shots on offense to secure the victory, 55-34. Moorpark Guard, #12 Sydney Arikawa, was ecstatic at her team’s play, especially on defense.
“Our focus was mostly on defense,” Arikawa said. “One of their top scorers only had one point.”
The Raider’s star of the night was the Raider’s Center, #42 Barbara Rangel, who recorded 30 points, 12 rebounds, two assists, and three blocks.
Darya Abbassi contributed to this story.
