It was a big night in an Orange Empire Conference game on the road for the Irvine Valley women's basketball team Wednesday.
And the Lasers showed up when it mattered most.
Irvine Valley, ranked No. 16 in the state, out-scored No. 17 Riverside by 10 points in the fourth quarter to pull off a 70-62 win.
The standings in conference are fluid with teams having bye games. But with Wednesday's triumph, Irvine Valley moved a half game in front of Cypress for second place.
Orange Coast held off Cypress in overtime on Wednesday to stay in the lead in the OEC.
Irvine Valley improved its record to 19-7 overall and 7-3 in conference. Cypress is 7-2 in conference after its defeat to OCC.
And tonight's results set up a complete battle for second in conference on Friday when Irvine Valley travels to Cypress for a 6 p.m. contest.
Irvine Valley won on Wednesday thanks to sensational performances from freshman guard Trasara Alexander and sophomore guards Kennedy Pucci and Kaila Truby.
Trasara, who leads in conference games in both points (21.9) and rebounds (10.7), finished with a game-high 29 points. She went 7 of 14 from the field, 4 of 6 from three-point range and sank 11 of 12 free throws.
And she also had 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals while playing 34 minutes.
Pucci ended with 17 points, making 10 of 11 free throws in 34 minutes and Truby played 36 minutes and had eight points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Irvine Valley jumped out to a 17-5 lead after the first quarter and was up, 24-16, at the half.
The third quarter was back and forth.
But things were tied at 46 with 7:19 left in the fourth quarter.
A three-pointer by Alexander with 7:00 to play put Irvine Valley up for good.
Big differences for IVC in the final stats were the Lasers going 25 of 30 from the free throw line and making seven three-pointers compared to zero for the Tigers.
