Rodriguez, Little come up big for Pirates in 56-50 win over Lasers
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Irvine Valley (13-6, 1-2) | 10 | 12 | 18 | 10 | 50 |
|
Orange Coast (11-8, 2-1) | 12 | 8 | 18 | 18 | 56 |
COSTA MESA -- Sami Little and Jenna Rodriguez each had 19 points to lead the Orange Coast College women's basketball team to a 56-50 Orange Empire Conference win over visiting Irvine Valley on Wednesday night inside the Peterson Gym.
Little added five rebounds and five steals for the Pirates (11-8, 2-1), while Rodriguez led Coast with nine rebounds. Off the bench, Michelle Wu and Chyann Pendergrass (six assists) each had six points, while Sarah Nunes had eight rebounds to go along with four points.
For the Lasers (13-6, 1-2), Tara Casey led all scorers with 22 points, including five made 3-pointers, to go along with seven rebounds.
It was a tale of two halves for the OCC offense. Coast managed just 20 points on 8-of-31 shooting from the floor (25.8 percent), but, came scorched the nets for 36 points in the second half on 14-of-26 shooting from the floor (53.8 percent).
The Lasers held their biggest lead of the game at 39-32 with 2:50 remaining in the third quarter, following a made 3-pointer by Casey. From there, Coast outscored the Lasers, 24-11 and pulled out a crucial home victory in the early stages of conference play.
The fourth quarter was dominated by the forward duo of Little and Rodriguez, who combined for 15 of OCC's 18 points.
Coast returns to action on Friday at Fullerton College, beginning at 7 p.m. OCC's next home game takes place on Wednesday, Jan. 27 against Saddleback, also at 7 p.m.
