Pirates host L.A. Valley in Regional playoff opener
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
LA Valley (14-14) | 20 | 6 | 14 | 21 | 61 |
|
Orange Coast (16-13) | 6 | 22 | 18 | 17 | 63 |
COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College women's basketball team will get one more home game this year as the Pirates host L.A. Valley College in the opening round of the Southern California Regional playoffs on Wednesday night, beginning at 7 p.m.
The 16th-seeded Pirates (15-13) and the 17th-seeded Monarchs (14-13) have split two games this year, with L.A. Valley pulling out a 58-53 win over the host Pirates back on Nov. 20. Coast returned the favor at the Ventura College Tournament on Dec. 28 with a 69-67 win over the Monarchs.
The winner of Wednesday's game will travel to Mt. San Antonio College to take on the top-seeded Mounties (29-1) on either Friday or Saturday night.
Coast got off to a solid start to the 2015-16 season, going 13-8 overall, 4-1 in the Orange Empire Conference, before a four-game losing streak tripped up the Pirates a bit. Coast finished the season with a pair of close wins over Fullerton (70-65) and Saddleback (48-46) to give the hosts some momentum heading into Wednesday's playoff matchup.
The big question for the Pirates is the status of freshman forward Jenna Rodriguez, who has missed the past three games due to injury. She is OCC's leading scorer (13.4 points per game) and rebounder (8.8 rebounds per game) and her availability is uncertain at this time.
Sophomore Sami Little and freshman Chyann Pendergrass have picked up the slack in Rodriguez's absense to help the Pirates post wins in two of those three games. Little notched a career-high 26 points against Riverside, while Pendergrass tossed in 20 points against Fullerton and a team-best 15 against Saddleback in the season finale.
One player to keep an eye on for the Pirates is sophomore Deanna Fink, who has averaged 9.6 rebounds per game and has seen her minutes increase down the stretch.
For the Monarchs, they are led by the 1-2 punch of freshman Diamond O'Connor and sophomore Adaora Obi. O'Connor leads the team in scoring at 16.3 points-per-game, while Obi is close behind at 16.1 ppg. Both are also dominant on the boards, with Obi leading the team at 11.3 rebounds-per-game. O'Connor is No. 2 on the team at 9.8 rpg.
