The Irvine Valley women's basketball team got its season off to a promising start last weekend.

The Lasers made the finals of the San Diego Mesa Tip-Off Classic.

Irvine Valley finished with a record of 2-1 in the event.

The Lasers started the tournament last Friday with a 56-55 victory over Antelope Valley.

Freshman Tiffany Smith led the way with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Freshman guard Patrice Fuentes added eight points, sophomore forward Jenna Schonfeld had seven points and freshman center D.J. Butler chipped in with five points and seven rebounds.

The Lasers won despite shooting just 33.3 percent from the field (21 of 63) and committing 29 turnovers in the game.

Irvine Valley then defeated San Diego Mesa, 64-60, in the semifinals on Saturday.

The game was tied, 30-30, at halftime, before IVC out-scored Mesa by four in the second half.

IVC got another strong effort from Smith, who finished with 18 points and nine rebounds. Schonfeld had 12 points and freshman forward Ashley Dunn and Butler each contributed 11 points. Butler and sophomore forward Nicole Tait each also had seven rebounds.

Irvine Valley moved on to the finals where it fell to Cerritos, 64-60, on Sunday.
Smith had her third game scoring in double figures to pace IVC. She finished with 13 points and eight rebounds.

Schonfeld had 10 points and Tait added 11 points and seven rebounds for the Lasers.

Cerritos was led by Genesis Lewis, who had 19 points and 10 rebounds.

Irvine Valley plays its first home game of the season on Wednesday, hosting Palomar at 5 p.m.