Irvine Valley's women's basketball team has been very good at home this season, and it continued on Wednesday night.
The Lasers earned one of their best wins of the season, holding off Cypress, 45-42, in a key Orange Empire Conference game.
The win, IVC's fifth straight, moved the team into a tie for first place with Cypress in the standings.
Irvine Valley, which is ranked No. 9 in Southern California, saw its record go to 18-6 overall and 6-2 in conference. Seventh-ranked Cypress had its record fall to 19-6 overall and 6-2 in conference.
The Lasers are now 8-1 at home this season, including 4-0 in conference. The one loss at home came to third-ranked Long Beach City by six points in December.
IVC shined on the defensive end once again. Cypress shot just 30.0 percent (18 of 60) from the field as a team and 21.7 percent (5 of 23) from three-point range.
Irvine Valley is averaging giving up just 42.3 points through eight conference games so far and OEC opponents are shooting just 29.6 percent from the field.
The game was close early and Cypress took a 13-12 lead at the end of the first quarter when Dominique Culhno nailed a long three-pointer at the buzzer.
But the Lasers took the lead in the second quarter and held on to it the rest of the way, although things got very close down the stretch.
IVC out-scored Cypress, 13-4, in the second period, including using a 7-0 run to end the half.
The Lasers were up, 25-17, at halftime.
Sophomore guard Tara Casey made a jumper with 51 seconds left in the half to put Irvine Valley ahead, 20-17. Freshman forward Kasey Smit nailed a three-pointer with 28 seconds left to make it 23-17.
And Casey was fouled with five seconds remaining and sank both free throws to give the Lasers the eight-point cushion at the break.
A layup by Casey less than a minute into the second half pushed Irvine Valley's advantage to 27-17.
Cypress stormed back and got within 29-27 on a basket by Natalie Garcia with 4:35 left in the third quarter.
But IVC used another late-quarter run, this time a 9-0 streak, capped by a basket by freshman forward Jada Haynes to take a 36-29 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Chargers scored the first six points of the fourth quarter. A layup by Lizette Martinez with 7:54 left in the game brought Cypress to within 36-35.
A key three-pointer by Casey gave IVC a 42-37 lead with 5:33 to play.
Cypress pulled within 42-41 on a basket by Bianca Silva with 1:01 left.
Casey was fouled and made one free throw. A key offensive rebound by freshman Kydell Pearson kept possession with the Lasers.
And after IVC missed two free throws, Pearson grabbed another offensive rebound with 27 seconds to play. She was fouled and made one free throw to give Irvine Valley a 44-41 lead.
Cypress missed a three-pointer on the other end and IVC sophomore guard Jordan Coleman was fouled and made one free throw to put the game out of reach.
Casey led Irvine Valley with 16 points, five rebounds, three assists and five steals.
Sophomore forward Morgan Bryant had 11 points and 12 rebounds and Smit added eight points and 10 rebounds.
IVC won despite committing 26 turnovers and going just 8 of 23 from the free throw line.
Cypress got 12 points from Alyssa Movchan and six points each from Erika Nilsen and Monique Mesa. Nilsen also added seven rebounds and three assists.
Irvine Valley plays again on Friday, hosting Orange Coast in a conference game at 5 p.m. It is also the program's Coaches vs. Cancer game with proceeds from ticket sales going to the American Cancer Society.
