Pirates start strong, tame Tigers, 75-61
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Riverside (12-13, 6-5) | 12 | 6 | 11 | 32 | 61 |
|
Orange Coast (19-8, 8-3) | 19 | 20 | 17 | 19 | 75 |
COSTA MESA -- The strong start was enough to overcome a shaky finish for the Orange Coast College women's basketball team, who raced out to a 30-point lead before settling on a 75-61 Orange Empire Conference win over visiting Riverside on Thursday inside the Peterson Gym.
Coast (19-8, 8-3 in the OEC) was cruising with a 54-24 lead over the struggling Tigers (12-13, 6-5) before Riverside came alive in the fourth and actually scored more in the final 10 minutes than it did through the first 30 minutes.
The lead was never threatened but it was a bit of a bummer of a finish for the Pirates heading into next week's regular-season finale at Riverside on Thursday at 5 p.m.
With the win Coast stayed in a second-place tie with Cypress with one game remaining in both teams' schedules. Barring a miracle upset over the Chargers by Santa Ana, the Pirates will have to win next week to stay deadlocked with the Chargers before the postseason seedings are announced.
Karina Cabrera had the hot hand for OCC, leading the way with 26 points. Annie Trinh did most of the feeding of her point-getting teammate and paced the offense with 10 assists to go along with 16 points. Savannah Seiler added 15 points and nine rebounds, while Madison Copeland tossed in 11 points and grabbed six boards.
Neveah Manning led RCC with 18 points and nine rebounds.
