The Irvine Valley women's basketball team saw its special 2017-18 season come to a close with a 94-75 loss to Sierra from Rocklin on Thursday in California Community College Athletic Association State Championship quarterfinals at Ventura College.
Bri Moore notched a game-high 29 points as Sierra gave Northern California teams their third win in as many games on Thursday.
The Wolverines pulled away after halftime to beat Irvine Valley.
Sierra (30-1), the top seed from the north, trailed Irvine Valley (26-5), the fourth seed from the south, by a 37-36 halftime score but turned on the afterburners in the third and fourth quarters by outscoring the Lasers 58-38.
Moore, a sophomore from Stockton, hit 11 of 29 shots, finished just shy of a double-double with nine rebounds, and added six steals and five assists.
Shanel Jamison scored 24 points and had four steals for Sierra while Alycee Willis contributed 18 points, most of them coming from the free throw line where she went 11 for 12.
Sophomore forward Kasey Smit put up a double-double for the Lasers, scoring 18 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.
Sophomore guard Lexi Vail (16 points), sophomore guard Elizabeth Garcia (15 points), freshman guard Cydnie Danan (14 points) and sophomore guard Mary Dishoian (11 points) also reached double-figures in scoring for IVC.
But Irvine Valley hurt itself with 26 turnovers as Sierra out-scored IVC, 24-12, in points off of turnovers.
Sierra also got 35 points from its bench in the contest.
The Wolverines jumped out to a quick 13-8 lead and then stretched it to 17-8 with three minutes left in the first quarter when Willis put in a layup.
Sierra led, 21-15, after the first quarter but was outscored, 22-15, by the Lasers in the next period. IVC took a 37-36 lead into the half.
Smit was key in that big rally by Irvine Valley, making 6 of 7 shots and scoring 13 points.
Taylor Avila hit a three-pointer in the early seconds of the third quarter for Sierra, giving it a 39-37 lead.
The Wolverines didn't trail the rest of the game although a layup and three-pointer by Vail knotted the game, 42-42.
Jamison's layup capped a 13-3 run that gave Sierra a 55-44 lead late in the period and Sierra stayed in control the remainder of the game. Jamison had 10 points in the third quarter for the Wolverines.
Sierra scored 29 points in each of the final two quarters and held a 42-32 advantage in points in the paint.
Irvine Valley still had a remarkable season. The team won a share of the Orange Empire Conference title, was ranked No. 10 in the state in the final regular season poll, knocked off two-time defending state champion Mt. San Antonio to reach the state tournament, and played in the second state tourney in program history.
