Cuesta women set to open regional basketball playoffs

There’s good news and bad news about the Cuesta College women’s basketball team’s loss to Moorpark in the regular-season finale.

The defeat was an excuse for the Cougars — one of the best statistical teams in the state — to lose respect in the playoff seeding meeting and just barely squeak in as one of the bottom two seeds. That’s the unfortunate news.

On the brighter side, Cuesta hasn’t lost back-to-back games all season.

Heading into tonight’s wildcard matchup at 16th-seeded Riverside City College (17-11), the No. 17 Cougars (23-7) are still stinging from last week’s 56-50 loss at Moorpark where team leaders Kaylee Williams and Jerrica Crosby had to play through injury and illness.

Now, Cuesta has no choice to focus on the playoff bracket, where top-seeded Mt. San Antonio College (30-0) waits for the winner.

Despite their ailments, the two sophomores have helped continue a Cougars renaissance, one where a run of local players have blossomed well beyond their high school accomplishments.

“That’s probably one of the most impressive things, and we’ve been winning,” Cuesta head coach Ron Barba said. “I think it speaks volume for these kids that came out and weren’t all- conference in high school, and they’re leaving here now with scholarships, records at the school.”

Williams was a standout at Mission Prep, and specialized defensively as part of an ensemble cast that helped the Royals play for a state championship.

At Cuesta, Williams has brought her defensive intensity, leading the team and ranking 20th in the state with 2.8 steals per game, but she’s also developed offensively, tying with Crosby for the team lead with 12.7 points per game, more than she ever averaged for the Royals.

Crosby had less of a résumé at Morro Bay High, where she played alongside Cal Poly center Hannah Gilbert and averaged 4.1 points per game.

This season, Crosby has nearly as many steals as Williams (2.5 per game) and also ranks in the top 20 in the state with 1.7 blocks per game.

As a team, the Cougars also rank in the top 10 in the state in seven statistical categories, including leading the state with a 74.1 free-throw percentage. Cuesta is also fourth in 3-point percentage (33.4), fifth in scoring defense (50.4 points per game), sixth in field-goal percentage (42.2) and seventh in both assists per game (16.3) and steals per game (14.3).

The sophomores have also helped Cuesta go 45-15 in the past two years combined. The recent success has coincided with Barba’s arrival. The former St. Joseph High girls coach and San Luis Obispo native has seen the victory totals rise in all five of his seasons at the helm.

The year before Barba arrived the Cougars were just 4-21. In the following years, they won 5, 13, 19, 22 and 23 games.

“I attribute that to kids just buying in and playing the system,” said Barba, who has built a foundation on pressure defense and pushing the ball on offense. “Who in the heck wouldn’t like to play in a system where you’re winning, you’re putting points on the board, you’re getting a chance to score, but you’re also learning how to defend?”

This season, Cuesta was second in the Western State Conference North Division, with two of their three conference losses coming to defending state champion Ventura. In the final matchup between the two, the Cougars put a scare into the Pirates with a late 7-0 run in what ended a 64-59 loss.

And that fearlessness in attacking a top-ranked team twice each season should help Cuesta if it gets to the next round and play Mt. SAC.

First, the Cougars need to get through Riverside, which has a pair of high-scoring sophomore guards. Point guard Tierra Fuqua averaging 16.5 points and 5.0 assists, while Tamara Herring averages 13.4 points and 5.2 rebounds. Post player Tori Mitchell, also a sophomore, averages 15.8 points and 12.4 rebounds.

Barba said Cuesta can’t be intimidated by Riverside’ athleticism. The Cougars have to play like they have all season.

“That’s our philosophy, playing defense,” Barba said. “That’s where it starts, steals and defense. If we go into it with that mentality, it should be a good game.”

This story was originally published February 24, 2015 at 10:25 PM with the headline "Cuesta women set to open regional basketball playoffs."