Irvine Valley's women's basketball team dropped its second straight game in the Orange Empire Conference, falling, 56-50, in a tough battle at Orange Coast.
Irvine Valley led by as many as seven points in the third quarter, but was out-scored, 24-11, the rest of the way the defeat.
The Lasers saw their record slip to 13-6 overall and 1-2 in conference.
Sophomore guard Tara Casey led all scorers with 22 points, including five made three-pointers, to go along with seven rebounds.
She was the only Laser player in double figures. Sophomore forward Morgan Bryant added nine points and sophomore forward Patricia Tidwell-McClure and freshman forward Kasey Smith each finishedwith five points. Smit also had seven rebounds.
IVC held its biggest lead of the game at 39-32 with 2:50 remaining in the third quarter, following a made three-pointer by Casey. But IVC couldn't hold on.
The Lasers shot just 34.7 percent (17 of 49) from the field in the game and only 30.8 percent (4 of 13) in the fourth quarter when they were out-scored, 18-10.
Sami Little and Jenna Rodriguez each had 19 points to lead Orange Coast.
Little added five rebounds and five steals and Rodriguez had nine rebounds for the Pirates, who improved their record to 11-8 overall and 2-1 in conference.
Orange Coast shot just 25.8 percent from the floor in the first half, but shot 53.8 percent (14 of 26) in the second half.
The fourth quarter was dominated by the forward duo of Little and Rodriguez, who combined for 15 of OCC's 18 points.
Irvine Valley has a bye from conference action on Friday and plays at Saddleback next Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the first part of the President's Cup series.
