Irvine Valley's women's basketball team played well early, but couldn't keep up with a tough Palomar team the rest of the way in a 75-61 defeat in the semifinals of the Coast Christmas Classic on Tuesday at Orange Coast College.
Irvine Valley, ranked No. 19 in the state, fell to No. 8 Palomar, 75-61.
Irvine Valley's record went to 6-2 overall, while Palomar improved to 11-3.
The Lasers will play in the third-place game of the tournament against Long Beach City at 3 p.m.
IVC led, 22-19, after the first quarter, but were out-scored, 11-5, in the second quarter.
Irvine Valley trailed, 30-27, at the half and were out-scored by four points (19-15) in the third quarter and seven points (26-19) in the fourth quarter.
The Lasers shot just 37.3 percent (19 of 51) from the floor as a team and committed 28 turnovers to just nine by Palomar.
Sophomore guard Lexi Vail finished with 17 points and four assists and freshman center Zoe Stachowski had 16 points and 20 rebounds before fouling out late for IVC.
Freshman guard Anai Washington also scored in double figures with 12 points and sophomore forward Ryane Bradbury had eight points and six rebounds.
Clarissa Taite led Palomar with 15 points and Taylor Williams had 14 points, six rebounds and five assists.
