SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The Santa Barbara City College Women’s Basketball team won their tightly contested season opener over No. 24 Santa Ana on Saturday afternoon, 60-56, at Robertson Gym.

The Vaqueros’ impressive free-throw shooting (10-for-13) was crucial in the close win on a day when neither team shot particularly well from the field.

“We played really hard,” Head Coach Sandrine Krul said. “But going forward, we have to mix playing hard with playing smart. When we’re not playing smart on the defensive end, it stifles what we do offensively.

“But I am proud of the way we stayed resilient,” she continued. “Whenever we had a turnover, we were encouraging each other to get back; our bench was in it, too.”

It was a unique challenge for the Vaqueros, who might not have another opponent like the Dons all year. With all guards on their roster, it shoehorned the Vaqueros to play a certain way to combat the small-ball style.

“Whoever’s going to play Santa Ana: they play hard,” Krul said of the visitors, who also only had seven active players on the night.

The Vaqueros held an 18-14 lead after the first quarter. Freshman Lizzie Searls came off the bench to drill two three-pointers late, accounting for eight points in her first six minutes.

Standout returner Khaya Jackson also hit two threes early in the second quarter to increase the lead to 24-16. The score would remain there for five and a half minutes until Kayli Porter and Mia Munar scored in quick succession to give the Vaqueros a 12-point lead—their biggest of the game. But Santa Ana ended the half on an 8-0 run, including a three-pointer in the final seconds, to go 28-24 Santa Barbara into halftime.

That momentum continued into the third quarter. Santa Ana soon had a 36-30 lead, capping a 20-2 run that spanned about seven minutes of game time. But five points from Jackson and four from Kylee McDougal broke the trend, making the score 40-39 Vaqueros at the four-minute mark. Jessica Chiniquy also hit two shots at the end of the quarter, keeping the Vaqueros four-point lead (now 46-42) into the final period.

Ultimately, the Vaqueros never relinquished the lead, but it would be quite misleading to leave it at that. Despite Grace Beasly‘s and-one to give the Vaqueros a 58-49 lead with 1:36 remaining, the game was in the balance in the final seconds.

Four Santa Ana free throws and a three-pointer came as a result of two Santa Barbara turnovers and far-too-quick possession given the circumstances. With the score 58-56, Santa Ana had a chance to win the game with 19 seconds left. They missed a three, though, and Jackson secured the rebound and was fouled with 2.7 on the clock.

The Vaqueros then called timeout to draw up a final inbounds play and burn the final seconds. It was so good that Jackson was actually wide open close to the basket, and made a short jumper as time expired for good measure to get to the 60-56 final.

Remarkably, the teams scored the same amount of points in each of the final three quarters—10-10, 18-18, and 14-14, respectively. Perhaps that is symbolic of how close of a game it was.

Jackson led everyone on the floor with 23 points, adding six rebounds and four assists. Campbell Mathews‘ nine rebounds led the team. Alanna Topete had six points, five rebounds, and a team-leading five assists.

With a win under their belt, the Vaqueros have a week before their next game, hosting Mission on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Robertson Gym.