Orange Coast College

Women hoopsters shoot past Chargers, 87-72

Friday, January 05, 2007

COSTA MESA - The Orange Coast College women's basketball team again showed the depth of a team that's finding points from all angles.

With five players in double figures, the Pirates improved to 16-3 overall, 2-0 in the Orange Empire Conference with an 87-72 win over visiting Cypress on Friday at the Peterson Gymnasium.

Courtney Ford led the Pirates with 22 points and nine rebounds. Erin Barney added 14 ponts on 6-of-10 shooting, Brittany Taylor added 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds and Rachael Maulit recorded a double-double, scoring 11 points while dishing out 10 assists. Down low, Lindsay Allen found success and scored 10 points as well.

The group effort spoiled a solid night for a pair of Charger players -- Brandi Thomas and Brae Butler. Thomas led Cypress (8-10, 1-1 in OEC) with 25 points and eight rebounds, while Butler added 20 points and five rebounds.

After falling behind early, 8-3, the Pirates grabbed the lead for good with an 18-2 run, giving the Bucs a 21-10 lead with 12:08 remaining. From there, OCC maintained a comfortable cushion between itself and the Chargers thanks to tough defense (21 forced turnovers) and 49 percent shooting from the field (37-of-75).

Adding to the ball distrubution was sophomore guard Robin Smith, who came off the bench and dished out eight assists to go along with her five points.

Leading the state in scoring coming into Friday's game, the Pirates managed to slightly surpass their 86.2 points-per-game average.

OCC will return to action on Wednesday when it travels to Fullerton to play the Hornets, beginning at 7:30 p.m.