Women's basketball team starts slow and falls to Orange Coast

Women's basketball team starts slow and falls to Orange Coast

Irvine Valley's women's basketball team dropped its second straight game to open Orange Empire Conference play.

The Lasers fell to Orange Coast, 69-56, Friday night at home.

Irvine Valley, which is ranked No. 14 in the state, saw its record slip to 11-7 overall and 0-2 in conference.

Orange Coast, which was playing its first conference game of the season after having a bye on Wednesday, improved to 10-7 overall.

Orange Coast never trailed in the contest.

The Pirates scored the first seven points of the game. A three-pointer by Dayanara Armenta gave the Pirates a 7-0 lead less than three minutes into the game.

Irvine Valley got on the board with a layup by sophomore guard Kiara King, but then Orange Coast scored six more points in a row.

A layup by Jasmine Matar put Orange Coast ahead, 13-2, with 15:38 left in the half.

Irvine Valley didn't get closer than nine points the rest of the first half.

Orange Coast took its largest lead of the first half at 41-20 after a free throw by Kelcie Mayott with 11 seconds left in the half.

OCC led Irvine Valley, 41-20, at halftime.

Irvine Valley committed 17 turnovers in the first half alone. The Pirates out-scored Irvine Valley in points off turnovers in the first half, 23-4.

The Pirates also dominated inside, outscoring Irvine Valley, 28-10, in the paint.

It was more of the same early in the second half.

Orange Coast stretched its lead to 54-33 after a three-pointer by Caitlin Bunting with 13:08 left in the game. And it was 56-33 after a layup by Mayott with 12:45 to play.

The Pirates took their largest lead of the game at 62-36 after a free throw by Morgan Johnson with 9:54 to play.

Irvine Valley continued to battle, though, and actually out-scored Orange Coast, 20-9, the rest of the way.

A three-pointer by freshman forward Alexis Casillas and two free throws by freshman guard Erika Pagkalinawan closed out the scoring for the Lasers.

The Lasers out-scored Orange Coast, 36-28, in the second half.

Irvine Valley ended up shooting 38.5 percent (20 of 52) for the game, while Orange Coast shot 40.6 percent (26 of 64).

The Pirates ended up out-rebounding Irvine Valley, 42-39, and, 19-11, on the offensive end.

Orange Coast out-scored Irvine Valley in the paint, 46-20, for the game.

Irvine Valley finished with 25 turnovers in the contest.

The Lasers were paced by Casillas, who had 14 points and 12 rebounds. King added 11 points and freshman forward Conerie Brennan had seven points.

Orange Coast had four players score in double figures, led by Raechelle Davis with 18 points. She added eight rebounds and two steals.

Dayanara Armenta added 16 points, five assists and two steals in 38 minutes and Chanelle DiCroce had 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists in 39 minutes.

Matar chipped in 11 points, seven rebounds and eight steals. The Pirates ended up with 14 steals in the game.

Irvine Valley will try and get in the win column in conference next Wednesday when it plays at rival Saddleback at 7:30 p.m.