Women's basketball team wins third-place game at Saddleback

Women's basketball team wins third-place game at Saddleback

After winning its first game easy in the Lady Gaucho Classic at Saddleback, Irvine Valley's women's basketball team finished off the event by splitting games.

Irvine Valley lost to a tough East Los Angeles team, 66-65, in overtime in a championship semifinal game on Friday.

East LA ended up winning the tournament and is undefeated on the season.

IVC led, 32-27, at halftime.

And Irvine Valley was up by as many as nine points in the second half.

Sophomore forward Conerie Brennan made a three-pointer to put the Lasers ahead, 40-33, with 15:17 to play.

And another three-pointer by Brennan gave IVC a 43-35 advantage with 14:45 left.

A lay-up by sophomore center Breanna Turner pushed IVC's lead to 47-38 with 10:48 to go.

But East LA went on a 13-0 run over the next four and a half minutes and took a 51-47 lead with 6:12 left.

IVC battled back the rest of the way.

East Los Angeles led by as many as six points at 60-54 on a layup by Jocelyne Diaz with 2:20 to go.

The Lasers trailed, 61-56, with 47 seconds left, but finished regulation by scoring five straight points.

Freshman guard Tara Casey made one of two free throws and Turner made a layup with 36 seconds left to get IVC within 61-59.

After East LA missed two straight free throws, Casey was fouled with 12 seconds to go.

She calmly went to the line and sank two free throws to tie the score at 61-61.

But East LA led nearly the entire way in overtime. The Lasers tied the game at 63-63 on two free throws by Turner.

However, the Lasers didn't make a field goal in overtime. They were 4 of 6 from the free throw line.

Casey and Turner led Irvine Valley and had big games. Casey finished with 25 points and Turner had 21 points and 18 rebounds. Brennan added nine points for the Lasers.

Irvine Valley moved on to the third-place game on Saturday against Scottsdale of Arizona.

The Lasers won, 67-55.

Casey led with 17 points. She was 5 of 7 from the field, including 3 of 5 on three-pointers. Casey also had three assists.

Freshman point guard Erika Mercado had a solid game with 16 points, three rebounds, two assists and one steal. She made 4 of 6 shots from the field, including 3 of 3 from three-point range and also made 5 of 6 free throws.

Freshman guard Jordan Coleman added 12 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals.

IVC held Scottsdale to just 32.1 percent (18 of 56) shooting from the field.

Coleman ended up being named to the all-tournament team.

Irvine Valley doesn't play again until Friday, Dec. 5 when it takes part in the Chaffey Tournament. The Lasers open with Mt. San Jacinto at 3 p.m. on Dec. 5.