Women’s Basketball: OCC stumbles again
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IRVINE — Having played and beaten Irvine Valley College three times already this season, Orange Coast women’s basketball coach Mike Thornton had comprehensive knowledge of what the Lasers would bring to the court.
But it was his own team that stumped the 28-year Pirates head man on Friday, as the Lasers posted a 61-49 Orange Empire Conference victory.
“I knew IVC would be ready to play, but for some reason we weren’t,” Thornton said after his team lost a season-worst third straight game and fell to fifth place in the seven-team conference.
Just one week ago, OCC was coming off a four-game conference winning streak, was securely in third place and battled first-place Cypress into double overtime before falling, 78-71, at Cypress.
Now, OCC (17-12, 5-6 in conference) though likely in good shape to advance to the Southern California Regional playoffs, may need some help to secure third place in the OEC.
OCC closes out its regular season against last-place Fullerton at home on Tuesday.
Riverside and Santa Ana (both 5-5 in conference), each have two conference games left and both have one game against Cypress.
But the bigger problem for the Pirates may be discerning where to locate their flow on both ends of the floor.
“It was a total disaster, defensively and offensively,” Thornton said of Friday’s setback, in which the Pirates’ point total was its lowest in 21 games. “I have no answers.”
OCC, which had lost two key players for the season with injuries, also played without freshman starter Sydney Driggs, who was sidelined with a knee injury for the second straight contest.
Sophomore point guard Chyann Pendergrass had 13 points and sophomore Michelle Wu added 10 for the Pirates on Friday, while sophomore reserve Megan McCullough had nine points and shared the team lead with five rebounds.
Pendergrass also led the Pirates with four steals and three assists, but also had five turnovers and was four for 11 from the field.
Wu was four for 12 from the field and McCullough was three for 10, but they were frequently required to hoist from the perimeter as OCC struggled to penetrate IVC’s determined defense.
OCC led, 5-0 and 7-2 before IVC rallied to claim its first lead in the final minute of the first half.
A Wu three-pointer with five seconds left, pulled the Pirates even at intermission.
But IVC, which had lost three straight and eight of its previous nine, opened the third quarter on a 10-2 run and never looked back.
The Lasers shot 41.5% from the field and posted a 41-27 rebounding advantage, while limiting OCC to 33.3% field-goal shooting.
Sophomore Megan Lewis had seven points and five rebounds for OCC.
OCC had topped IVC twice in tournament play – 72-60 on Dec. 10 and 76-65 on Dec. 30 – and produced a 68-59 home win over the Lasers in the first round of conference play on Jan. 18.
Orange Empire Conference
Irvine Valley 61, Orange Coast 49
SCORE BY QUARTERS
OCC 17 – 11 – 9 – 12 – 49
IVC 14 – 14 – 16 – 17 – 61
OCC – Lewis 7, Pendergrass 13, Wu, 10, Obong 5, Raimondi 0, McCullough 9, Nunes 5.
3-pt. goals – Wu 2, Pendergrass 2, McCullough 2, Obong 1.
Fouled out – Nunes.
Technicals – None.
IVC – Pearson 9, Garcia 13, Brown 12, Saba 9, Dishoian 4, Hall 8, Warren 6.
3-pt. goals – Garcia 3, Saba 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
Twitter: @BarryFaulkner5
