Dreessen, Joseph pace Pirates past Chargers, 57-50

COSTA MESA -- It wasn't 40 minutes of highlight-reel basketball, but the Orange Coast College women's basketball team will happily settle for winning ugly after topping visiting Cypress College, 57-50, on Wednesday night inside the Peterson Gym.

A pair of Pirates -- Alyssa Dreessen and Melaiah Joseph -- helped carry the back-to-back state champs to victory. Dreessen worked hard down low and led the way with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting to go along with 11 rebounds and a pair of blocks. Joseph added 15 points and helped Coast win back the boards with 10 rebounds.

Zoie Lamkin came out shooting well early and finished with 11 points for OCC (14-3, 1-0 in the Orange Empire Conference).

For the Chargers (11-6, 0-1), Christaesha Jackson led the offense with 16 points and 12 rebounds, while Kalysa Ng added 10 points. The rest of the Charger squad shot a combined 9-of-41 from the floor (22%).

It was a grind-it-out style of basketball for both teams in the first half as the Pirates and Chargers entered the locker rooms deadlocked at 24. An Andrea Lopez layup with 2:04 remaining in the third period put the Chargers ahead, 37-35, but from there, the OCC defense clamped down and held Cypress off of the scoreboard over the next 4:07 of game time. Over that span, Coast ripped off 12 points in a row and led, 47-37. 

Cypress would pull to within four points with under 30 seconds remaining, but Coast made their free throws down the stretch to hold on for the win in a battle of two of the top 10 teams in the state. (Cypress ranked No. 10, OCC ranked No. 3).

The Pirate defense was a thing of beauty, holding the Chargers to just 31% shooting from the floor and Coast forced 20 Cypress turnovers for the game. 

The Pirates will return to action on Friday at Riverside City College, beginning at 5 p.m. before returning to the Peterson Gym on Friday, Jan. 17 against Saddleback, beginning at 5 p.m.