The Irvine Valley women's basketball team had some struggles early, but played an exceptional second half on its way to a 83-47 Orange Empire Conference victory over Golden West on Wednesday at home.
Irvine Valley, ranked No. 14 in the state, out-scored Golden West, 49-25, in the second half. The Lasers improved their record to 11-6 overall and 2-1 in conference.
The Lasers led just, 16-10, at the end of the first quarter, but moved their advantage to 34-22, by the end of the first half.
And then IVC pulled away in the final 20 minutes of the game.
Sophomore wing Christen Ziska scored a career-high 24 points for the Lasers. She had scored 22 points in two games earlier this season.
She made four three-pointers and also added five rebounds, three assists and one steal.
Irvine Valley sophomore guard Emily Freeman added 15 points, making five three-pointers and also contributed four rebounds, three assists and two steals in the contest.
Freshman guard Moka Saiki chipped in 10 points, two assists and one steal and freshman forward Sarah Bonsangue had nine points off of the bench, making 3 of 5 three-pointers.
Irvine Valley made 14 three-pointers in the game and also held Golden West to just 28.8 percent (19 of 66) shooting from the field. The Lasers also helped turn the Rustlers over 19 times.
IVC plays again on Friday, traveling to Fullerton for a conference game at 6 p.m.
