Women's basketball team loses to Cypress at home, 69-56

Courtesy of On My Game Photography
Courtesy of On My Game Photography

Irvine Valley's women's basketball team played hard and hung around with one of the top teams in the Orange Empire Conference for a while.

But Cypress just had a little too much as the Lasers fell, 69-56, on Wednesday night at home.

The Chargers picked up their 20th win of the season, improving to 20-6 overall and 8-1 in conference. Cypress also moved into first place in the conference standings after Saddleback fell to Riverside on Wednesday.

Irvine Valley's record slipped to 10-16 overall and 2-8 in conference.

Irvine Valley never led in the game, but kept it close until the second half.

Cypress led, 17-11, after the first quarter an, 40-33, at the half.

A three-pointer by freshman guard Serena Saba with 17 seconds left in the second quarter pulled IVC within seven points at the break.

But Cypress opened the third quarter on a 11-2 run to take complete control. Sylvia Garcia scored eight of those points.

A free throw by Patrice Sagiao-Jones with 4:12 left in the third quarter gave Cypress a 51-35 lead.

The Chargers led, 55-41, heading into the fourth quarter and scored the first four points of the final period to push their lead to 59-41.

Irvine Valley closed out the game with a 9-3 run.

The Lasers hurt themselves with 27 turnovers in the contest. Cypress cashed those turnovers into 23 points.

Cypress also out-rebounded Irvine Valley, 54-38, and out-scored IVC in the paint, 48-20.

Garcia had 16 points and five rebounds to lead the way for the Chargers. Sagiao-Jones came off the bench with 14 points and eight rebounds. Bianca Silva had seven points and five rebounds.

Irvine Valley got a game-high 22 points from Saba. Sophomore forward Kydell Pearson ended with 12 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore guard Aaleah Brown and freshman guard Elizabeth Garcia each added eight points.

Irvine Valley plays its final home game of the regular season on Friday, hosting Orange Coast at 7 p.m.