Irvine Valley's women's basketball team returned to form on Tuesday night.
The Lasers dropped their first game in Orange Empire Conference play last Friday at home to Cypress.
But IVC, ranked No. 11 in the state, responded with a 93-58 win over Orange Coast on sophomore night at Irvine Valley.
The Lasers honored sophomores Kasey Smit, Elizabeth Garcia, Kiara Warren, Mary Dishoian and Jenna Rodriguez before the contest and also celebrated OCC legendary coach Mike Thornton, who is retiring at the end of this season.
Irvine Valley then took care of business on the court. The Lasers led, 23-13, after the first quarter and, 50-26, at the half. Smit, a sophomore forward, had a double-double in the first half with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
The Lasers cruised from there on their way to the win, which improved their record to 23-4 overall and 12-1 in conference.
IVC remained in a tie for first place in the conference standings with Cypress. The Chargers rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat Saddleback, 52-48, on the road on Tuesday.
Tuesday at IVC, Smit finished with 22 points, 15 rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks. It was here 18th double-double of the season.
Freshman guard Lexi Vail contributed 18 points, nine rebounds and four assists, Dishoian came off the bench with 16 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals, Garcia had 15 points, six rebounds and eight assists and Warren added 11 points and 10 rebounds in the win for IVC.
Irvine Valley shot 43.7 percent (38 of 87) as a team in the victory, out-rebounded Orange Coast, 58-37, had 27 assists and helped force 26 OCC turnovers.
Orange Coast (3-21, 2-11) were paced by Aburiona Mathis, who finished with 23 points, seven rebounds and three blocks.
The Lasers will finish the regular season with an important conference game at Riverside at 5 p.m.
