Irvine Valley's women's basketball team opened up the Orange Empire Conference part of its schedule Wednesday night at home against the current fifth-ranked team in the state and defending state champion, Orange Coast.
The Lasers gave the Pirates all that they could handle before coming up short in the closing minutes, 68-60.
Irvine Valley, ranked No. 14 in the state, saw its record slip to 9-6 overall and 0-1 in conference. Orange Coast improved to 12-3 overall and 1-0 in conference.
IVC led by three points three minutes into the game.
And the Lasers trailed just, 33-27, at the half.
Orange Coast went up by as many as 12 points (43-31) in the third quarter after Bridgette McIntyre made a three pointer with 5:38 left in the third.
But the Lasers went on a run and pulled within 45-41 after a three-pointer by sophomore guard Emily Freeman with 3:02 remaining in the third quarter.
And after another three-pointer by Freeman, IVC was behind only 47-44 with 2:02 left.
Orange Coast led, 52-46, going into the fourth quarter.
The Lasers fell behind by nine points early in the final period, but never went away.
A three-pointer by sophomore wing Christen Ziska got IVC within 60-56 with 4:59 left in the contest.
And a layup by sophomore forward Ella Will kept the Lasers at 62-58 with 2:41 left.
But Irvine Valley didn't get any closer.
Two free throws by McIntyre with 34 seconds to play put the game away for Orange Coast.
Irvine Valley was led by sophomore post player Makena Tomlinson with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman point guard Haruka Mikuma added 13 points and three assists and freshman guard Moka Saiki chipped in 12 points and three rebounds.
Orange Coast had four players score in double figures, led by McIntyre with 20 points and four rebounds. Ashari Casssell had 14 points and two steals and Sabrina Lopez ended with 13 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals.
The Lasers play again on Friday at Santa Ana in another conference game at 7 p.m.
