The Irvine Valley women's basketball team continued to improve to start its 2017-18 season.
The Lasers went 2-1 in the Lady Gaucho Tournament at Saddleback to improve to 4-2 on the season.
IVC defeated Orange Empire Conference rival and host Saddleback, 83-46, in the consolation final on Saturday.
Sophomore forward Kasey Smit was named all-tournament for the second straight week for the Lasers. She also earned the honor at the Pasadena City College President's Classic the previous week.
In the win over Saddleback, Smith scored a game-high 20 points with 14 rebounds, six assists and one block.
She made 9 of 12 shots from the field.
Sophomore forward Kiara Warren added 14 points, seven rebounds and two steals and freshman guard Lexi Vail also contributed 14 points with four rebounds and three assists.
Sophomore guard Mary Dishoian contributed eight points and nine rebounds off the bench, while freshman forward Grayce Tuttle finished with seven points and sophomore guard Elizabeth Garcia had seven points and six rebounds for the Lasers in the win.
Irvine Valley led, 25-11, after the first quarter, and then put the game away in the second period.
IVC out-scored Saddleback, 18-3 in the second quarter to take a 43-14 lead into the half.
But the Lasers weren't done. They scored a season-high 31 points in a quarter in the third to go up, 74-35, heading into the final quarter.
Smit was dominant in IVC's third quarter, scoring 12 points with five rebounds and two assists. She is now averaging 11.6 points, 11.2 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 3.4 steals and 1.0 blocks per game on the season.
She leads the Lasers in rebounds, assists, steals and blocks and is second in scoring so far.
Irvine Valley defeated Moorpark, 57-44, in a consolation game on Friday afternoon. The Lasers out-scored Moorpark, 18-7, in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
Warren paced the Lasers with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Smit had another solid game with 10 points, 16 rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Freshman guard Cydnie Danan had a nice all-around game with 10 points, four assists and four steals for Irvine Valley. And Dishoian chipped in seven points and two rebounds off the bench.
Irvine Valley started the event with a tough loss to one of the top teams in the state. The Lasers battled, but fell to Mt. San Jancino, 78-70
Mt. San Jacinto was ranked second in Southern California in the coaches preseason poll.
Vail led the Lasers with 21 points. She also had four rebounds and four assists.
Danan scored 17 points and had three rebounds and three assists.
Garcia finished with 13 points, Warrant had eight points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals and Smith ended up with seven points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Irvine Valley has a break in the action now. The Lasers play again on Nov. 29. IVC hosts its first home game of the season, playing Glendale at 5 p.m.
