VC women clinches another WSC basketball title

The Ventura College women's basketball team wasn't in a sharing mood Saturday night.

So Destinee LaFountain made sure the Pirates kept the Western State Conference title all to themselves.

The sophomore forward from Royal High scored 16 of her 21 points in the second half as No. 1-ranked Ventura knocked off No. 14 Moorpark, 58-44 on Saturday night at VC Athletic Event Center.

"We really wanted it," said LaFountain. "We've worked really hard for this."

LaFountain, who was limited by foul trouble in the Pirates' dramatic 52-48 win at Moorpark on Jan. 25, shot 9 of 15 from the field, pulled down seven rebounds and blocked two shots

"She's been playing hard for us for two years, every game and every practice," said Ventura head coach Ned Mircetic. "That was the result."

With the two cross-county rivals going a combined 20-0 against the rest of the seven-team division, the two-game season series determined the title.

Moorpark was in position to earn a share of the title for the first time since 1991, the first of Ventura's 22 straight banners — 20 outright — under Mircetic.

"This was an important game for all of us," said Ventura sophomore Regan Mew. "We didn't want to share our title."

Rebecca Griffin had 11 points and four assists and Rian Mew added 11 points and three assists for Ventura (29-1), which wrapped up its fifth straight 12-0 conference campaign by extending its winning streak to 20 games.

The teams will learn their postseason seeding Monday.

"They need to take a day off, enjoy this and we'll begin preparing for the playoffs Monday," said Mircetic.

Moorpark (18-9, 10-2) saw its five-game winning streak snapped, despite 15 points from Ashley Samson and 11 points from Charnae Thomas.

"Samson shot the ball extremely well," said Mircetic.

Moorpark was affected by point guard Camilla Chun's foul trouble. The freshman from Thousand Oaks, who had four steals in the team's first meeting when she was a major factor in forcing nine turnovers by Pirates' point guards, picked up her second foul five minutes into play and fouled out with three minutes to play.

Playing in Chun's place, freshman Gabrielle Root added eight points.

"I thought Gabrielle came in and did a really good job," said Moorpark head coach Lindsay Goldblatt. "She picked up Camilla when she needed it."

Samson knocked down a jumper and Chelsea Smith found forward Katie Lenik for a transition bucket to pull Moorpark within 18-16 with six minutes to play in the half.

But Ventura took control by scoring 10 of the next 13 points, as Stephanie Ramirez splashed a corner 3-pointer and Rian Mew converted a 3-point play, a pair of free throws and drained a runner in the lane to push the lead to 28-19.

"They were definitely able to take advantage of the times when we were undisciplined," said Goldblatt. "Every time we missed an assignment or were slow in our rotation, they capitalized. That's a very well-coached team."

Moorpark, which has shot nearly 65 percent from the foul line, also shot itself in the foot by incredibly converting just 1 of 12 free throws.

LaFountain took it from there, piling up points on both blocks and the middle of the lane to build a 51-38 lead with 5:35 to play.

"It's nice knowing that you can get her the ball and good things will happen," said Regan Mew.