No. 14 Hancock Women Head to Moorpark Wednesday, No. 4 Ventura Saturday

The women's basketball team maintained its position as the No. 14 team in the South Region Poll this week. The Bulldogs play two Western State Conference games on the road this week. Hancock starts the week 12-5 overall and 1-1 in league. The Bulldogs will play at Moorpark, Wednesday, Jan. 13, at 5 p.m. before traveling to Ventura, the No. 7 team in the state and No. 4 team in the South Region, on Saturday, Jan. 16 at 5 p.m.

Hancock opened conference play with a 66-37 loss to Santa Barbara City College. Freshman Syenna Ramirez led the Bulldogs with 18 points. Hancock shot 22 percent from the floor. Hancock bounced back three days later with a 64-53 come-from-behind win over Oxnard. Hancock jumped out to a 19-4 lead, but found itself down by three points in the fourth quarter before regaining control. Ramirez led the Bulldogs with 14 points and a career-high 12 assists. Sophomore guard Marissa Torres added 13 points and four rebounds. She hit back-to-back three-point baskets in the fourth quarter to give the Bulldogs the lead for good. Freshman forward Kelly McClain came off the bench to score 12 points and pull down nine rebounds. Destinee Garcia added eight points, nine rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Ramirez ranks 17^th in the state by averaging 17.9 points per game.  Garcia is averaging 3.9 steals per game, which ranks fourth in California.

Moorpark dropped its first two conference games last week, 56-49 at Oxnard and 63-40 at home against Ventura. Four players average 11.5 points or more. Sophomore guard Cydney Bolton is the team's leading scorer at 13.3 points and 5.7 assists per game. Forward Sydney Perry averages 12.9 points, center Emma Johnson averages 12.1 points and 7.5 rebounds, while sophomore guard Dagmar Ramirez averages 11.5 points and 8.1 rebounds.

Ventura starts the week 16-4 overall and 2-0 in league. Ventura has won 25 straight conference titles and 34 consecutive conference games. The Pirates play L.A. Pierce on Wednesday. The Pirates average 69 points per game led by sophomore guard Aubri Smith, who averages 12.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game. St. Joseph High School graduate Amani White averages 7.9 points and a team-high 8.1 rebounds per game.

The game against the Pirates will showcase the top two defenses in the state. Hancock leads all teams by allowing an average of 46.5 points per game. Ventura is second at 49 points per game.