Irvine Valley's women's basketball team let the game and a possible move up in the Orange Empire Conference standings get away on Wednesday night at Orange Coast.
The Lasers, who had a big first-half lead, couldn't close out Orange Coast and ended up suffering a 57-49 loss.
The defeat dropped Irvine Valley's record to 15-9 overall and 4-4 in conference.
It also halted a four-game win streak by the Lasers.
Irvine Valley raced out to a 22-10 lead in the early going.
But the Lasers were out-scored, 14-0, over the last 8:21 of the first half by the Pirates and went into halftime trailing, 24-22.
The run carried over into the second half for Orange Coast, which went on a 14-3 streak over the first six-plus minutes of the half.
OCC held a 38-25 lead with 13:47 remaining in the contest.
During the 28-3 run, Irvine Valley went 0 for 13 from the field and committed 12 turnovers. The Lasers' three points came on free throws.
OCC's lead grew to as many as 14 points (43-29) before the Lasers started to chip away at the deficit.
A layup by sophomore forward Taylor Casey with 1:51 left pulled IVC to within a bucket at 51-49, but the Pirates never relinquished the lead.
A basket by Chanelle DiCroce and two made free throws by Raechelle Davis, combined with a pair of missed three-point shots by the Lasers pushed the lead back up to 55-49 and then Dayanara Armenta wrapped up the win for Orange Coast with two free throws.
Sophomore guard Jasmine Kennon led the Lasers with 20 points and nine rebounds, while Casey added 13 points and nine rebounds.
Orange Coast, which improved to 14-9 overall and 5-2 in conference, got 19 points from DeCroce, 15 points and four steals from Jasmine Matar and 11 points and 12 rebounds from Davis.
The win, coupled with Cypress losing to Fullerton moved Orange Coast into second place by itself in the conference standings.
The Lasers currently sit in fourth place.
Irvine Valley plays again on Friday at home. It has a huge match-up with conference-leading Saddleback (6-1 in conference) at 5:30 p.m.
