MORGAN HILL -- Against a Monte Vista Christian team that was taller, faster and putting on a shooting display, Live Oak could only do so much Tuesday.
The Lady Acorns forced 29 turnovers out of the Mustangs, but were outrebounded 41-26 -- and outscored 46-30 in Live Oak Gym.
"Our defense was okay. We're still struggling with our offense," Acorns coach Jeff Perkins said. "We're getting better. The girls are quick and they're moving around. They had problems with (Monte Vista Christian's) height."
The Mustangs, who dressed five players measuring 5-feet-10 or taller, wasted little time exploiting their size. After a back-and-forth first quarter, they reeled off 15 points in the second on the way to leading 23-10 at the break. Live Oak cut an eight-point deficit in half at 14-10, using a full-court press, but Monte Vista Christian answered with a 9-0 scoring run.
Center Britta Blaser scored four of her game-high 12 points during that stretch for the Mustangs, who captured their first victory while sending the Acorns to 0-2 in nonleague play.
"I was happy with our effort. Our team effort was good," Monte Vista Christian coach Steve Blaser said. "We passed the ball better, but we made a lot of mistakes -- had a lot of turnovers. (Live Oak's) full-court press factored into that. They did a good job running it."
Britta Blaser completed a double-double with a 11 rebounds, and forward Alex Blaser collected nine points, nine rebounds and three blocks for the Mustangs of the Monterey Bay Athletic League. Teammate Raylin Rondez added nine points and four steals.
"Raylin played good at guard," Steve Blaser said. "She got the ball to our bigger players down low."
The Acorns' offense picked up in the second half, as Jacey Turay poured in nine points and Ariana Guerrero added seven. Turay, a junior post, finished with 11 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the field. She had four rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Guerrero totaled nine points and eight rebounds, and Live Oak senior guard Sarah Mesa had eight steals and seven points.
"Our shots are starting to go down, but we're still coming together," said Acorns point guard Niki Patel. "I have confidence in us. I always have confidence in my team. We'll get better."
Cracking the full-court press, Monte Vista Christian outscored Live Oak 14-9 in the third quarter and led 37-19 heading into the fourth.
"We were hoping that we could put pressure on them, so they couldn't get the ball outside," Perkins said. "But that didn't work. They just figured out they can go over the top. So we went back into a zone to clog things up, but that took away our strengths. (The Mustangs) took up a lot of space."
The Acorns will play in a tournament this weekend before facing cross-town rival Sobrato on the road Thursday.
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