Alondra Jimenez and Sophia Torres combined for 39 points on 68% shooting Sunday afternoon and SBCC rode a big first quarter to a 76-56 women's basketball win over Ohlone.
The Vaqueros went 2-1 in the three-day, season-opening MTXE Crossover at the Sports Pavilion. Butte College was the only 3-0 team, winning its games by an average of 16.3 points.
Jimenez, a former Santa Barbara High star who transferred from Vanguard University, scored a season-high 20 points on 9-11 shooting. She also had five assists and three steals. Torres, a 5-11 forward who played with Jimenez at SBHS, had 19 points (on 8-14 shooting), eight rebounds and three steals.
The Vaqueros jumped ahead 12-0 at the outset with Torres scoring six and Jimenez four. The lead grew to 18-4 on a 3-pointer by Jade Jones and the Vaquero defense and fast break were in high gear as they built a 30-10 lead after one quarter.
SBCC shot 75 percent (12-16) in the first 10 minutes and was 4-4 on long-range bombs. The left-handed Jimenez swished a buzzer-beating triple from the right side to end the quarter.
"We just had to come out strong after a tough loss yesterday," said Jimenez, referring to a 15-point loss to Butte on Saturday when the Vaqueros made just 26.8% from the field.
Jordan Parkhurst, a 5-8 freshman guard from Dana Point, added 14 points, five rebounds and six assists. The Vaquero starters knocked down 60.4% of their shots (29-48).
"Transition, push the ball … we like to run," said Parkhurst, who scored consecutive layups in the second quarter to push the lead to 24 points, 40-16, with 5:16 to go. "Stick to what we do, stick to what we know."
The Vaqueros outshot the Renegades 62.5 to 25.0% in the first half and led 47-24 at the break.
"We came out rolling and making shots," said associate head coach Devin Engebretsen. "When they see the ball go in the basket, everybody is feeling better. Last night was tough, we didn't shoot the ball like that at all. It was nice to see us get the ball in the net early and make some 3's and a lot of layups.
"We shared the ball really well. A lot of our offense starts with our defense. When we get into transition and don't have to think about getting set up and running plays and we can play flowing, then we're in business."
SBCC had a season-high 26 assists, led by Parkhurst (6), Jimenez (5) and Jones (5). Nine of the 10 Vaqueros had at least one assist.
Sophomore guard/forward Jada Forsdick-Stevenson scored eight points and pulled down five rebounds.
The third quarter started much like the first with the Vaqueros putting together an 11-4 run, ignited by an inside basket from Torres, a steal and lefty layup by Parkhurst and a dive-on-the-loose-ball steal by Jones and assist to Jimenez for another layup.
Jimenez canned a 3 from the left corner and Torres scored from close range to give the Vaqueros their largest lead of 30 points, 58-28, with five minutes left in the third period.
"We executed our game plan and got the ball into the post, which got our wings open," explained Torres. "Ball movement was important as we got three to five passes before shooting. We try to go in and out as much as we can."
Ohlone whittled away at the 30-point deficit and shaved it to 15 (66-51) when Breanna Kalning hit a 3 and Nae Daniels converted a layup at the 6:04 mark. But Torres got a layup on her third try and the Vaqueros went on an 8-2 burst, capped by a triple from Parkhurst, to restore the lead to 21 points, 74-53.
Earlier Sunday, Butte took care of Copper Mountain 95-79 and Chaffey held off Taft 71-68. Lelisa Watson poured in 40 points for Copper Mountain, hitting 13-26 from the field and 6-13 from 3-point land.
The Vaqueros are playing their first six games at home. They'll host San Diego City on Thursday at 7 p.m.
