Pirates take on familiar foe for a trip to state

COSTA MESA -- As if playing in the Orange Empire Conference -- arguably one of the deepest and toughest conferences in the state -- wasn't bad enough during the regular season, the Orange Coast College women's basketball team now gets to revisit familiar territory when the Pirates host conference-rival Irvine Valley in Round 3 of the Southern California Regional Playoffs on Saturday, beginning at 7 p.m. inside OCC's Peterson Gym.

For those who want to argue about the strength of the Orange Empire Conference ... four teams from the OEC made the 24-team playoffs and heading into Saturday night's SoCal Elite Eight, all four OEC teams (OCC, IVC, Cypress, Riverside) are still playing.

This is the third meeting between the two schools this year, with the top-seeded Pirates (28-1) taking both contests over the eighth-seeded Lasers (21-8). OCC edged out IVC in Irvine on Jan. 4, 57-53 before prevailing at OCC, 66-57 on Jan. 27. Both games were a struggle for success so Pirate head coach Sammy Doucette knows what she's up against for Round 3.

"The game plan against IVC is to be ready to adjust to whatever they're going to try and do this third time around," Doucette said. Then it's going to come down to us being able to stop their key players and then score the basketball and play our game. It's hard to beat any team twice, let alone three times. I think it's really easy to get comfortable and think you'll beat them a third time just because you've already done it twice before, but I know that's not the case and I hope my team knows that too. And ... it's not just ANY team ... this is IVC ... our longtime rival!"

One thing working in the Pirates' favor is the fact they are now playing their best all-around basketball at the right time. All five of OCC's top players -- Meghan McIntyre (19.6 points, 9.4 rebounds, 7.4 assists/game), Karina Cabrera (15.4 ppg), Annie Trinh (12.6 ppg), Gabby Samiy (12.1 points, 6.9 rebounds/game) and Savannah Seiler (6.7 points, 9.1 rebounds/game) have all mightily contributed to the Pirates' last few victories, including last week's 87-62 playoff win over L.A. Trade Tech. Cabrera led the way with 24 points, McIntyre added 17 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists, Trinh and Samiy each tossed 16 points and Seiler notched a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds. 

"We definitely need to put our pieces together like we have been doing the past few games," Doucette said. "We can't have 1-2 people want it ... everybody has to. It's all about will over skill."

For the Lasers, they picked up a solid comeback win over Mt. San Jacinto in Round 2 of the playoffs, 59-52. Trailing 45-40 after three quarters, IVC outscored the Eagles 17-9 in the fourth to survive and advance. 

IVC's Emily Freeman (9.2 ppg) led the comeback with 21 points, while Trasara Alexander (15.4 ppg, 9.4 rpg) added 13 points and 14 rebounds.

"We need to try and slow down 23 (Alexander)," Doucette said. "They run a lot through her, she shoots the ball well, she draws fouls and she chases down rebounds like a state championship depends on it."

The winner of Saturday's matchup will advance to the California Community College Athletic Association State Tournament, which kicks off on March 10 at West Hills College Lemoore. This is OCC's first third-round playoff matchup since 2010-11 and Coast is searching for its first trip to the Big Dance since reaching the Final Four with the 2005-06 team that finished 30-6 overall.