Pirates set school record with 96-94 double-OT win over Hornets

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College women's basketball team pulled a rabbit out of the hat and earned some school history along the way as the Pirates needed double overtime to escape the Peterson Gym with their 18th consecutive win, 96-94, over Fullerton College on Friday night.

With the win, the Pirates (18-0, 2-0 in the Orange Empire Conference) have set a new OCC women's basketball record for consecutive wins, topping the previous mark of 17, set during the 2006-07 season.

Meghan McIntyre earned her first triple-double of the season with 19 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists for OCC, while Karina Cabrera led all Pirate scorers with 20. Gabby Samiy added 19 points and seven rebounds, Savannah Seiler tossed in 14 points and Annie Trinh contributed 10.

For the Hornets (9-8, 0-1), Bri Landeros had 23 points and nine rebounds, Jasmine Arnold added 19 points, Tia Jaquias tossed in 18 points to go with nine boards and Angela Zendejas contributed 13 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists.

The Pirates were playing uphill the entire night as the Hornets played with nothing to lose and used their energy on defense to make life miserable early on for the hosts as FC jumped out to a 23-15 first-quarter lead.

Coast, which drained 15 3-pointers for the night, begin hitting from downtown and in spite of a ragged two quarters, the Pirates trailed only by one at the break, 38-37.

The Fullerton lead grew to seven after three quarters before the Pirates finally found some success in the final 10 minutes of action.

Trailing 60-52 a minute into the fourth, Coast went on a 12-4 run to get back even with the Hornets, 64-64, with just under 5 minutes remaining.

Fullerton regained a 69-66 edge before a jumper by Seiler and a 3-pointer by Samiy put OCC up, 71-69 with 1:28 remaining. It was the first OCC lead since leading 2-0 in the opening seconds of the game.

In the final seconds, Coast had opportunities at the free-throw line to ice the game, but after four attempts and only one made, Coast led, 72-69 and with less than 2 seconds remaining, Jaquias drained a 28-footer from the top of the circle, forcing the game into overtime.

That momentum carried over for the Hornets, who led by as many as eight (83-75) with 33 seconds remaining, before the comeback began. 

• 3-pointer by Cabrera ... 83-78
• 2 free throws by Zendejas ... 85-78
• 3-pointer by Samiy ... 85-81 ... 19 seconds remaining
• One made FT by Arnold ... 86-81 ... 16 seconds remaining
• 3-pointer by Cabrera ... 86-84 ... 6 seconds remaining

Then ... after a Fullerton timeout, a steal off a turnover by Cabrera led to a last-second made layup, tying the game and forcing a second overtime.

Samiy put OCC in front early in the second OT with a 3-pointer to give OCC an 89-87 advantage and it from there, the Pirates never trailed the rest of the way.

With the score tied at 93, McIntyre drove to the basket and scored to put OCC up 95-93. Both teams traded free throws and in the final seconds, a Ballestero 3-pointer was swatted away by Ashlee Dorantes to put an end to a game for the ages.

Coast will get a much-needed break for most of next week before hosting OEC rival Cypress on Friday, beginning at 5 p.m. It's an "OCC White Out Game" so all fans are encouraged to wear all white for the battle with the Chargers.