Women's basketball team upsets Orange Coast
Feb 16, 2006
The Irvine Valley College women's basketball team might have saved its season Wednesday night.
The Lasers knocked off Orange Empire Conference leading Orange Coast, 59-55, at home.
The win moved Irvine Valley's record to 21-8 overall and 6-7 in conference.
It also improved the Lasers' chances of getting into the Southern California Regional playoffs.
Irvine Valley remained in sixth place in the conference standings, but
was just one game behind Santa Ana and Fullerton for fifth place with
one game to play.
The top five teams, possibly six, are expected to qualify for the playoffs.
"We did need this," Irvine Valley Coach Julie Hanks said. "I think it
helps us a lot. I was really proud of the way the team played tonight."
Orange Coast's record slipped to 26-5 overall and 10-3 in conference
and dropped them into second place in the conference standings. Cypress
moved to the top.
Orange Coast also had a three-game win streak in conference snapped.
The Pirates jumped out to an early lead, scoring the first six points
of the game and later taking their largest lead, 22-13, on an offensive
rebound and put back by Madison Parks with 6:57 left in the first half.
Irvine Valley answered by out-scoring Orange Coast, 12-4, over the next
four and a half minutes. A basket by guard Monique Newsome and then two
free throws by guard Robin Smith pulled Irvine Valley to within, 26-25,
with 2:25 left in the half.
The Lasers trailed, 28-17, at the intermission.
Irvine Valley took its first lead of the game early in the second half
when forward Vanessa Dominguez was fouled and made two free throws.
The game was back and forth from there with four ties and five lead changes over the next several minutes.
Irvine Valley took the lead for good with 6:19 left when Dominguez made
one of two free throws. It gave the Lasers a 49-48 advantage.
Two free throws by center Brittney Crawford 16 seconds later gave the Lasers a 51-48 lead.
Despite scoring just seven points in the final six minutes, the Lasers held on the rest of the way.
One free throw by Newsome with 10.1 seconds left gave Irvine Valley a 58-54 lead and sealed the victory.
The Lasers shot just 29.8 percent (17 of 57) from the floor in the
game. Orange Coast shot 40 percent (22 of 55). But Irvine Valley made
up for it by outscoring Orange coast by 14 points at the free throw
line. The Lasers made 21 of 29 foul shots.
They also out-rebounded Orange Coast, 45-35, overall and, 21-14, on the offensive glass.
Dominguez finished with a season-high 18 rebounds (eight offensive and
10 defensive). She also had a team-leading 17 points despite shooting
just 4 of 13 from the field. She did make 8 of 10 free throws. Guard
Emily Luckeroth added 13 points and Newsome had eight points and seven
rebounds with six of her rebounds coming on the offensive end.
The Lasers play at Riverside on Friday to finish off the regular
season. They will find out if they make the post season Sunday or
Monday.