The Ventura Cougars came tearing into Tuesday's game with five straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 24.2 points) and they left with even more momentum. They snuck past Oxnard with a 59-54 victory. That's another feather in the cap for Ventura, who also won these teams' last head-to-head.
Leading Ventura to victory were Jasmine Moore and Kailee Staniland. Moore dropped a double-double on 18 points and ten rebounds, while Staniland scored 17 points along with four steals. That's the first time this season that Moore scored 15 or more points. Another player making a difference was Skyler Knight, who scored eight points along with five rebounds and two steals.
Several Yellowjackets players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Kayla Lumas, who scored 12 points along with six rebounds and two steals. Lumas continues to roll, besting her previous point total in each of the last four games she's played. Mikayla Oliver was another key contributor, scoring 16 points along with eight rebounds.
Ventura pushed their record up to 18-3 with that win, which was their third straight on the road. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 66.0 points per game. As for Oxnard, their defeat ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 17-4.
Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Ventura will take on Dos Pueblos at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Dos Pueblos will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps California Rankings (they are ranked 134th, while Ventura is ranked 27th). As for Oxnard, they the luxury of staying home another game and will welcome Buena at 7:00 p.m. on January 18th.
