Team effort propels Pirates to victory

COSTA MESA -- It took a little while, but the Orange Coast College women's basketball team found some second-half success and topped visiting Fullerton College, 58-50, on Friday night inside the Peterson Gym.

With leading scorer Alexis Legan having an off-night shooting, other members of the Pirates (14-6, 3-1 in the Orange Empire Conference) picked up the slack, led by guard Annie Trinh, who came off the bench to score a team-high 18 points. Karina Cabrera added 13 points and six assists, while Legan contributed 12 points, a team-high seven rebounds and five assists.

Janelle Ramos led the Hornets (13-10, 5-3) with 15 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks, while Destiny Goodloe added 16 points and four assists.

It was a perplexing first half of basketball for head coach Sammy Doucette and her Pirates as they struggled to find any offensive rhythm. Fortunately for them, the Hornets had their own troubles and only led 25-21 at the half. Coast was 3-of-17 in the first quarter and was held to just seven points.

With OCC trailing 36-32 near the end of the third quarter, the offense clicked and after a made 3-pointer by Cabrera and and Madison Copeland layup, Coast grabbed a 37-36 advantage. Fullerton was held scoreless over the final two minutes of the third and the first 1:30 of the fourth as Coast used a 15-2 run to grab a 47-40 lead with 8:27 remaining. 

Fullerton quickly ripped off six straight points to pull to within one with 5:09 left, only to see OCC pull away again. A Trinh 3-pointers, a made free throw from Legan and a 3-pointer by Savannah Seiler pushed the Pirate advantage back up to eight and from there, Coast hung on for the victory. 

This game is the first of five big conferences squeezed into a seven-day period as earlier COVID postponements are now coming back onto the schedule. Coast will play at Irvine Valley on Sunday (3 p.m.) at Fullerton on Monday (6 p.m.) at Cypress on Wednesday (6 p.m.) and home against Golden West on Friday (7 p.m.) in a crazy stretch of contests. 

In the OEC standings, Irvine Valley sits at a perfect 7-0 (18-2 overall), with Cypress close behind at 6-2 (14-9 overall). OCC is third at 3-1 in conference play, but this upcoming week will have a major impact on where the Pirates stand in this always-tough conference.