Hancock Women Fall to Rivals Cuesta 85-52 in WSC Battle

(Santa Maria, CA) – For 25 minutes, the Allan Hancock College women's basketball team stayed within striking distance of rival Cuesta College on Saturday afternoon. However, the Lady Cougars wore down the host Bulldogs with red-hot shooting and pesky defense to pull away with an 85-52 win in Joe White Memorial Gymnasium in a Western State Conference game. 

The Bulldogs dropped to 0-2 in Western State Conference play and 10-7 for the season. Hancock has lost 13-straight conference games. Cuesta, which is ranked 20^th in the state this week, evened its WSC mark at 1-1 and improved to 16-3 on the season.

Hancock trailed 34-23 at halftime and climbed to within eight points when Davina J. Valerio sank a free throw to make it 43-35 with 15:20 to play. However, Cuesta pulled away for good with a 30-9 run over the next 13 minutes behind red-hot shooting and pesky defense. 

Ali Rodriguez led the Bulldogs with 20 points on 7 for 16 shooting. Valerio and Veronica Sua each added 9 points. Justine Roland scored 6 points to go with 11 rebounds.

Hancock shot 28.6 percent in the first half and 31.4 percent for the game on 16 for 51 shooting. The Bulldogs recorded 21 turnovers and managed to make just 2 of their 16 shots from 3-point range (12.5 percent) and went 18 for 30 from the free-throw line.

Cuesta on the other hand shot 60 percent in the second half from the floor and finished at 50.8 percent for the game. 

Katie Rodriguez, a Righetti High graduate, led all scorers with 21 points for Cuesta. Miriam Zabinksy scored 20 points for Cuesta to go with six rebounds and four steals. Morgan Liebscher, a San Luis Obispo High School graduate, added 14 points, eight rebounds and two steals. Melissa Lemus scored 9 points and dished out nine assists.

Hancock trailed from start to finish as the visiting Cougars scored the first five points of the game. Cuesta hit five 3-point buckets in the first half as Rodriguez and Liebscher each knocked down two from downtown. Rodriguez scored 11 points in the first half for Cuesta, while Zabinsky had 10 at intermission. Sua led the Bulldogs with 8 first half points thanks in part to four offensive rebounds.

The Bulldogs return to action on Wednesday, Nov.15 at Ventura, the top ranked team in the state and 23-time defending WSC champion.