Irvine Valley's women's basketball team got a career night from freshman Emma Vasquez and rolled to a 89-41 win over Orange Coast in its Orange Empire Conference opener on Wednesday at home.
The Lasers, ranked No. 18 in the state and 10th in Southern California improved their record to 11-3 overall and 1-0 in conference, while OCC slipped to 0-11 overall and 0-1 in conference.
Vasquez, a guard out of Segerstrom High, ended with 23 points. She scored 20 of those points in the first half, connecting on six three-pointers to help the Lasers to the lead.
But it was close early on between the two teams. IVC was up just, 15-12, after the first quarter. The Lasers out-scored Orange Coast, 24-13, in the second quarter to open up a 14-point lead at the break.
Irvine Valley put the game away in the third quarter with a 24-10 burst and led, 63-35, heading into the final period.
Vasquez finished the night 8 of 13 from the field, including 6 of 11 from three-point range.
She was one of four Laser players to score in double figures. Freshman guard Anai Washington had a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds, as did sophomore guard Lexi Vail, who added 11 points and 12 assists. She also had six rebounds.
Freshman guard Megan Herrera finished with 11 points, freshman guard Kelli Murakami-Hanashiro contributed seven points and freshman center Zoe Stachowski endd with seven points and six rebounds.
Orange Coast was led by Jalisa Simons, who had 20 points and six rebounds.
Irvine Valley plays again on Friday, hosting Fullerton at 7 p.m. in another conference contest.
