Pirates keep impressive start going with upset win over Mt. San Antonio

WALNUT -- It's definitely a team of "quality over quantity" for the Orange Coast College women's basketball team as the Pirates rolled into Mt. San Antonio College and went only six-deep, but still pulled off a 60-52 upset road win over the No. 2-ranked Mounties on Wednesday night.

Just five days removed from a 65-49 road win at No. 3 Moorpark, the undefeated Pirates (5-0) continue to plow through one of the toughest nonconference schedules in the area and remain unscathed along the way.

Meghan McIntyre led the Pirate offense with 30 points on 13-of-17 shooting and dished out eight assists. Annie Trinh added 10 points, while Savannah Seiler dominated the boards with a team-best 16 rebounds to go along with eight points. Karina Cabrera had a rough night shooting, but that didn't affect her effort on the defensive end as she led the team with nine steals to go along with eight points.

While the Pirates and Mounties (2-2) don't play each other all that much, it's still the first win for OCC over Mt. SAC since Nov. 10, 2002, a span of 20 years and six days.

The Mounties got things going first and jumped out to an 8-2 lead before OCC picked up the pace and finished the first quarter with a 14-4 run to lead 16-12.

The lead was seven at the half (27-20) before Coast pulled away for good in the third quarter. A 17-4 Pirate run -- highlighted by back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers by Trinh, McIntyre and Cabrera -- put Coast up 44-24 and from there, the Mounties were never a threat the rest of the evening.

While the offensive numbers were not the greatest (38.5% shooting from the floor, 19.2% from 3-point range and 33.3% from the free-throw line), the Pirate defense clamped down all night against a Mt. SAC team that came into the game averaging 84 points-per-contest. OCC forced 25 Mountie turnovers and held the hosts to just 36.8% shooting all night (21-of-57). Coast carried a 23-8 advantage off of points off of turnovers, which proved to be a huge difference in the game.  Kamesha Moore led Mt. SAC with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Briana Lizardi added 11 points.

Coast will return to the road on Saturday to take on L.A. Valley College, beginning at 3 p.m. OCC will play its home opener on Friday, Dec. 2 against Glendale, beginning at 7 p.m.