Late rally comes up short for Pirates in loss to Gauchos
COSTA MESA -- An 18-point comeback came up just a few points short for the Orange Coast College women's basketball team during Friday night's 53-49 home loss to Saddleback on Coaches vs. Cancer Night inside the Peterson Gym.
After the hot shooting of Brooke Wright pushed the Gauchos ahead 35-17 late in the first half, the Pirates (11-13, 2-6 in the Orange Empire Conference) slowly began to chip into the deficit. Wright, who finished with a game-high 21 points, had 17 of those points in the opening 20 minutes, thanks in large part to 5-of-7 shooting from 3-point range.
Trailing by 13 at the half, Coast clamped down on defense and held the Gauchos (13-12, 4-4) to just 4-of-22 shooting (18.2 percent) in the second half and an icy 0-for-4 from downtown.
Trailing 50-40 with just over five minutes left in the game, Coast went on a 9-0 run to get back to within a point at 50-49. Dayanara Armenta, who finished with 13 points, hit five of those nine points, while Jenna Arnett (nine points, nine rebounds) and Michelle Angel (11 points, six rebounds, seven assists) also found success during that run.
Arnett's lay-up with 13 seconds left made it a one-point game with 13 seconds left, but the Pirates shot themselves in the foot by calling a bench timeout with no timeouts remaining.
Saddleback took advantage of the technical and possession by sinking 3-of-4 from the free-throw line to extend the lead back up to four. From there, the Gauchos were able to hold on for the win.
Myishia Watkins added 11 points for the Gauchos, while Nicole Rollinight added seven big points off of the bench on 3-of-4 shooting.
OCC will return to action on Wednesday at home against Irvine Valley, beginning at 5:30 p.m.
