Irvine Valley's women's basketball team had trouble stopping Riverside inside and lost, 71-54, in an Orange Empire Conference game on Wednesday at home.
Irvine Valley saw its record fall to 9-13 overall and 1-5 in conference, while Riverside improved to 16-7 overall and 3-3 in conference.
Riverside out-rebounded Irvine Valley, 69-38, in the contest and out-scored Irvine Valley, 38-20, in the paint and, 19-10, on second-chance points.
The Lasers still led heading out of the first quarter. A three-pointer by freshman guard Serena Saba gave IVC a 10-6 lead with six seconds left, but Chiderah Uzowuru connected on a three-pointer just before the buzzer to pull the Tigers within 10-9 at the end of the first quarter.
Riverside had its way in the second quarter, out-scoring Irvine Valley, 20-13.
The Tigers took the lead for good on its first possession of the quarter when Darria Hewitt made a layup off a steal and assist by Madeline Morrow.
Up, 15-14, Riverside went on a 12-2 run to take control.
A basket by Brittney Gonzalez gave Riverside a 27-16 lead with 2:40 left in the half.
Irvine Valley trailed, 29-23, at the half.
The Lasers pulled within 34-31 with 5:31 left in the quarter after a basket by sophomore guard Aaleah Brown.
And two layups by freshman forward Taylor Hall kept the Lasers close at 39-35 with 3:05 left.
A three-pointer by freshman guard Elizabeth Garcia made it a 41-38 game with 2:07 remaining in the quarter.
But the Lasers couldn't get any closer.
A three-pointer by Raegan Graham pushed Riverside in front, 48-38, with 1:02 to go.
Riverside led, 48-40, after three quarters.
The Tigers scored the first six points of the fourth quarter and went ahead, 54-40, on a layup by Uzowuru.
Riverside led by as many as 20 points in the final period before winning by 17.
Gonzalez finished with 21 points, nine rebounds and six assists to pace the Tigers.
Morrow had 11 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals, Uzowuru ended with 11 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals and Hewitt had 11 points, 13 rebounds and two steals.
Paradise Hanchett chipped in seven points, 13 rebounds and two steals for RCC.
Irvine Valley, which shot just 27.9 percent (17 of 61) from the field as a team, was paced by Taylor Hall with 13 points and five rebounds. Brown had 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists, Saba contributed nine points and six steals and Garcia had eight points, five assists and five steals for the Lasers.
Irvine Valley plays again on Friday at Santa Ana at 7 p.m.
