Women's basketball takes on Riverside in battle of top 20 teams

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

The Irvine Valley women's basketball team, coming off two straight wins in the Orange Empire Conference, hosts Riverside in a battle of two of the top 20 teams in the state.

Riverside is ranked No. 15 and IVC comes in at No. 20 in the lastest SID poll for the state.

Both teams have a record of 2-1 in conference.

Riverside enters Friday night's match-up with a record of 15-4 overall.

RCC is coming off a tough 80-67 loss at No. 14 Cypress on Wednesday.

Neveah Manning had 25 points and 13 rebounds to pace Riverside. Nieya Hamilton added nine points for the Tigers.

On the year, Manning averages 15.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.1 steals per game. Maxine Najera is averaging 10.1 points and 7.4 rebounds and Shanon Jordan averages 8.8 points per game for Riverside.

The Lasers are 13-5 overall.

IVC played right with No. 2 in the state Orange Coast before losing by four points in the conference opener and then beat Golden West, 84-41, and Santa Ana, 73-53, in the last two games.

At Santa Ana on Wednesday, freshman guard Trasara Alexander scored 21 points and had nine rebounds and sophomore post player Giselle Martinez finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds in the victory for the Lasers.

On the season, Alexander is averaging 13.3 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.

Sophomore guard Kennedy Pucci averages 8.3 points and 2.2 assists, freshman guard Emily Freeman is averaging 7.8 points and Martinez is adding 7.6 points and 4.2 rebounds a game for IVC.

The Lasers play again next Wednesday, hosting Cypress in another big conference game at 6 p.m.