Pirates shake off slow start and rally past L.A. Valley in Regional playoff opener

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College women's basketball team advanced to the second round of the playoffs following a 63-61 Southern California Regional playoff win over visiting L.A. Valley College on Wednesday night inside the Peterson Gym.

The 16th-seeded Pirates (16-13) overcame a ragged start against a bigger and more physical Monarch team and earned a trip to Mt. San Antonio College on Saturday night to take on the top-seeded Mounties (29-1), beginning at 7 p.m.

Sami Little led the Pirates with 17 points and five assists, while Michelle Wu added 14 points and Sarah Nunes chipped in 13. For the Monarchs (14-14), Karina Marino had 17 points and five assists, Diana Duenas added 14 points and Adaora Obi knocked down 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.

It was the third meeting of the year between the Monarchs and Pirates, with both teams winning close decisions so a third down-to-the-wire finish was to be expected. However, it was a first quarter to forget for the host Pirates, who trailed, 20-6, after the first 10 minutes of play. Coast shot 2-of-13 from the field, while L.A. Valley knocked down just about everything in sight. The Monarchs dominated the glass and outrebounded OCC 14-0 in the opening quarter.

After a much-needed end-of-quarter break, the Pirates regrouped and turned up the focus and intensity, especially on the defensive end, where they committed eight LAVC turnovers over the next 10 minutes and held the Monarchs to just 2-of-7 shooting from the floor.

Meanwhile, Coast connected on 7-of-13 from the floor in the second quarter -- including three 3-pointers and fought all the way back and held a 28-26 lead at the half.

LAVC came out strong at the start of the third and grabbed a 31-30 lead, but it would be the last advantage the 17th-seeded Monarchs would have the rest of the evening.

A Sophia Guzman jumper and a Wu 3-pointer pushed the Pirates back out in front, kicking off an 18-10 run that put OCC ahead, 48-41 early in the fourth quarter.

Coast grabbed its biggest lead of the game with 6:34 left when a Pendergrass layup pushed the Pirates ahead, 54-46, but the Monarchs would not go away quietly. A 9-2 run over the next six minutes helped pull LAVC to within a point at 58-57 with 34 seconds left.

Coast worked the ball around the floor and it paid off when Wu drove to the hoop and scored with 19 seconds left to push the lead back up to three at 60-57.

Moreno drove the length of the floor and scored to make it 60-59 with 13 seconds left and the Monarchs quickly fouled Little to stop the clock.

The Pirate sophomore calmly nailed both shots and the lead was again three points before another Moreno coast-to-coast layup brought the Monarchs back to within a point of the Pirates with six seconds left.

Coast was able to eat up valuable time off the clock before LAVC was able to foul Pendergrass with just 1.2 seconds remaining. Pendergrass missed the first, but made the second of her two free-throw attempts and a last-second, half-court shot by the Monarchs came up short.