After a near two-week break in the schedule from game action, the Irvine Valley women's basketball team was back at it last weekend at the VC-Optimist Club Holiday Classic in Ventura.
The Lasers split their two games against some top teams.
Irvine Valley defeated Ventura, 58-52, on Friday and then fell to Glendale, 47-31, on Saturday.
The win and loss moved IVC's record to 8-5 overall.
Irvine Valley rallied to defeat Ventura. The Lasers were down, 21-10, at the end of the first quarter and, 31-20, at the half.
But IVC out-scored the Pirates, 38-21, in the second half, including winning the fourth quarter, 25-11.
Irvine Valley was out-rebounded, 49-29, in the game. But a key for the Lasers was making 12 three-pointers compared to just four for the Pirates.
Moka Saiki led Irvine Valley with 19 points and five steals. She sank five of IV's three-pointers.
Sophomore wing Christen Ziska added 10 points and four rebounds and sophomore guard Emily Freeman and freshman guard Haruka Mikumi each finished with nine points. Mikumi also had seven assists.
Sophomore post player Makena Tomlinson chipped in 11 rebounds.
The Lasers struggled on Saturday against Glendale, shooting just 22.4 percent (11 of 49) from the field and 15.0 percent (3 of 20) from three-point range in a defeat.
Tomlinson led the way for the Lasers with 13 points and eight rebounds.
IVC plays again on Jan. 5 at Palo Verde at 5:30 p.m.
