In leading up to the start of the 2015-16 athletics campaign at Irvine Valley, which starts on Aug. 24 with women's volleyball competing in the Azusa Pacific scrimmage tournament, the Laser athletic department is counting down the top 10 IVC sports stories from the 2014-15 school year.
At No. 5 on the list is the near perfect season turned in by the Irvine Valley women's basketball team. The Lasers had one of the best-ever years in program history. The team won 27 games, which was the second-most ever, made the Southern California Regional Final, rolled through the Orange Empire Conference, going 12-0 to win a title and racked up several impressive individual awards, including Breanna Turner and Jordan Coleman being named honorable mention All-Americans, Turner being picked all-state and the conference MVP and Julie Hanks earning coach of the year awards. Four players, Turner, Conerie Brennan, Karli Kato and Erika Pagkalinawan also signed to play at four-year schools.
In 2014-15, the Irvine Valley women's basketball team won its first Orange Empire Conference title since the 1998-99 season and just the third in school history.
The Lasers went a perfect 12-0 in conference and were ranked among the top teams in the state all season.
But Irvine Valley did much more than that. The Lasers amassed a 15-game win streak at one point during the season, won two playoff games, made the Southern California Regional Final and were just a game away from taking a trip to the state tournament.
Irvine Valley finished its year with a record of 27-4 overall. It was the second most wins in program history, only behind the 28 victories (28-7) the 1998-99 squad tallied.
The team was guided by 17th-year head coach Julie Hanks, a solid group of sophomores, including all-state center Breanna Turner and a strong class of freshmen.
Turner was named the conference MVP, freshmen guards Jordan Coleman and Tara Casey were named first team all-conference and sophomore forward Conerie Brennan was picked second team all-conference.
Hanks was named the conference's coach of the year.
Turner and Coleman were later selected as All-America Team Honorable mention players in the Junior/Community College division by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA).
Turner turned in one of the best single seasons in school history.
Turner, who signed with Menlo, averaged 14.5 points, 11.4 rebounds and 1.0 blocked shots overall per game for IVC.
She also shot 52.7 percent from the field.
Turner scored in double figures in 24 of the 30 games she played in during 2014-15 and topped 20 points in seven contests. She finished the season with 13 straight games scoring in double figures.
Turner also grabbed at least 10 rebounds in 16 contests and had nine contests with at least 15 rebounds and two games with at least 20 boards.
She recorded 14 double-doubles on the year. She had a 27-point, 21-rebound game to help Irvine Valley beat Pasadena City in the championship game of the IVC tournament last December.
Coleman was named first team all-conference in her initial year with the Lasers. The versatile 5-7 guard averaged 10.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game.
She was first on the team in steals and assists and third in both scoring and rebounding.
Coleman scored in double figures in 15 games, recorded two double-doubles (points and rebounds) and had four games with at least five steals.
Besides Turner, sophomores Brennan (Holy Names), Karli Kato (La Verne) and Erika Pagkalinawan (La Verne) will all continue their basketball careers at four-year schools in the fall.