DIV. II GIRLS WATER POLO: H.-W. HUMBLED BY SANTA BARBARA IN SEMIFINALS : S. BARBARA 10 H.-W. 5.

Byline: Scott Magoloff Daily News Staff Writer

The quest to reach Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool and the Southern Section Division II finals came to a decisive end for the Harvard-Westlake girls' water polo team.

Top-seeded and No. 1-ranked Santa Barbara handed the Wolverines a 10-5 loss - only their second of the year and fourth in the last three years - in the semifinals Thursday.

The Dons, defending D-II champions, make a return trip to the title game on Tuesday.

Harvard-Westlake (22-2) faced an 8-0 deficit after three quarters. Liz Blase finally scored for the Wolverines with 5:56 left in the final quarter.

``Between the third and fourth quarters I told the seniors thank you, and don't tell CIF, but our 2000 season starts now,'' Harvard-Westlake coach Rich Corso said.

And the players took his message to heart, as two goals each by junior Jeanine Jackson and sophomore Courtney Quinn made things respectable for the Wolverines. But Santa Barbara's defense controlled too much of the game to allow a collapse that would end in defeat.

Harvard-Westlake only trailed 3-0 at halftime, but a trend had already been established that carried through to the disastrous third quarter. The Dons scored their second and third goals in 6-on-5 situations due to ejection fouls.

Santa Barbara went on to score four of its next five goals in the third with a 6-on-5 advantage, or after a 4-meter penalty shot.

``We saw a tape of their game (against Agoura) and they had 15 (ejection fouls),'' said Santa Barbara's Thalia Munro, who scored a game-high four goals, all in the second half. ``Getting them on your back and pulling their hands down to your waist is a way to draw a foul.''

With the theme of ``next year'' on the minds of Harvard-Westlake's players and coaches in the fourth quarter, it was only fitting that a sophomore and junior took over the game.

The feeling was especially gratifying for Quinn, who had missed all season with a broken finger and returned one game prior to the playoffs.

``It was great for me to come back and play like that,'' Quinn said. ``Now we're ready to come back and play them again next year; I'm talking about Santa Barbara and everybody. I think we can do this.''

Jackson, whose Junior National team faced Munro's National Youth team in Canada last year, was also caught pondering the Wolverines future.

``I got a taste of what the semis are like; I want the finals,'' she said. ``But we didn't come out hard in the third quarter. If that run in the fourth quarter came earlier, we'd have been right in it.''