Women's Basketball

Irvine Valley Women's Basketball Tournament Set For Thursday

Courtesy of Toni Lavacot
Courtesy of Toni Lavacot

The 11th annual Irvine Valley College Women's Basketball Tournament starts on Thursday at IVC.

The eight-team event will feature four games on both Thursday and Friday and three games on Saturday.

Games get underway on Thursday at 2 p.m. with Chaffey and Long Beach State leading off.

El Camino takes on Riverside at 4 p.m., Rio Hondo plays Grossmont at 6 p.m. and Irvine Valley hosts El Camino-Compton at 8 p.m.

Games are at 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Friday.

On championship Saturday, the consolation title game will be at noon with the third-place game at 2 p.m. and the championship game at 4 p.m.

Irvine Valley won the title last year, beating Pasadena City in the final, 84-66.

Center Breanna Turner, who is now playing at Menlo, was the tourney MVP after scoring 27 points and grabbing 21 rebounds in the final.

Irvine Valley point guard Erika Mercado was also picked to the all-tournament team.

Chelsea Waddy-Blow, who returns for Chaffey, was also part of the all-tournament team.

There are four teams ranked heading into this year's tournament.

Long Beach City, which entered this week with a record of 6-1 overall, was ranked fifth in the state of the California Community College Athletic Association Women's Basketball Coaches Association poll. Long Beach is also ranked third in Southern California.

The Vikings are paced by Lupe Cruz, who is averaging 9.6 points and 5.9 rebounds, Paris Lucci, who is averaging 9.1 points, and Sopavy Seng, who is averaging 9.0 points per game.

Irvine Valley is ranked tied for 15th in the state and sixth in Southern California. The Lasers have a record of 5-2 overall and are led by sophomore guard Jordan Coleman, who is averaging 11.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.3 steals a game, sophomore guard Tara Casey, who is averaging 10.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists, Mercado, who is averaging 9.7 points and 5.3 assists,  freshman forward Kasey Smit, who is averaging 9.7 points and 7.7 rebounds per game and sophomore forward Morgan Bryant, who averages 7.7 points and 8.1 rebounds a game.

Riverside, with a record of 7-3 overall, is ranked 12th in Southern California and Chaffey, with a record of 7-4 overall, is ranked No. 15 in So. Cal.

Riverside won its own tournament last month behind Jordan Lofton, who was named MVP and had 19 points in the final game. DoyleBonet Walker is averaging 14.8 points, Lofton is averaging 13.9 points and Paradise Hanchett averages 6.4 points and 12.9 rebounds a game for the Tigers.

Waddy-Blow is off to a great start to the season for Chaffey. She is averaging 22.1 points, 12.8 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.1 blocks per game. Denisha Spivey averages 12.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.4 assists and Fondarina Alexis is averaging 12.3 points per game for the Panthers.

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