Irvine Valley's women's basketball team prepped for the start of Orange Empire Conference play next week with a 55-47 victory over Moorpark on Saturday night at home.
The win improved Irvine Valley's record to 13-3 heading into its conference opener at Orange Coast at 7 p.m. next Wednesday.
Irvine Valley's only three losses in non-conference action were to ranked teams in East Los Angeles (in overtime), Palomar and Sequoias.
The Lasers got 16 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks from sophomore center Breanna Turner and 11 points, four rebounds and five assists from sophomore guard Tara Casey in the win over Moorpark.
IVC led from the outset, took a 25-18 advantage into halftime and then did enough in the second half to earn the victory.
Moorpark pulled within 42-40 after a three-pointer by Christina Provenzano with 7:36 left, but Irvine Valley then put the game out of reach with a 12-0 run over the next six minutes.
Two free throws by freshman forward Morgan Bryant put Irvine Valley ahead, 52-40, with 1:50 left.
The Lasers shot 38.6 percent (22 of 57) from the field in the game. They were just 3 of 22 (13.6 percent) from behind the three-point line.
Irvine Valley did help force 22 Moorpark turnovers, including 14 in the first half.
Freshman guard Jordan Coleman and Casey each had three steals for Irvine Valley. Coleman and sophomore forward Conerie Brennan each added six points. Sophomore guards Erika Pagkalinawan and Karli Kato contributed five points apiece for IVC. And Bryant had seven rebounds to go along with four points for the Lasers.
Moorpark, which saw its record fall to 8-7 overall, shot 32.7 percent (17 of 52) from the field. Moorpark out-rebounded Irvine Valley, 39-37.
The Raiders were paced by Ashley Ontiveros, who had 18 points and hit four three-pointers and Darmar Ramirez, who ended with 10 points, 10 rebounds and four steals.
Sydney Bennett also had seven points and seven rebounds for Moorpark.
