Orange Coast College

Women's hoopsters take control of OEC by topping Hornets

Friday, February 02, 2007

COSTA MESA - After struggling in the first half last week against Cypress, the Orange Coast College women's basketball team put the pedal to the medal early on Friday against Fullerton.

Using a 41-point first half, the Pirates controlled things from start to finish and topped Fullerton 74-59 at the Peterson Gym in a matchup between the Orange Empire Conference's top two teams.

The win gives the No. 4 ranked Pirates (24-3, 10-0 in the OEC) a three-game conference lead with four games remaining.

While the 3-point shot struggled early, the Pirates found lots of success elsewhere, hitting 12-of-21 (57.1 percent) from inside the arc and a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line in the first half.

That success wasn't found on the other side of the court, however, as the No. 5 Hornets (22-7, 7-3) hit a frosty 25 percent from the field and fell behind 41-21 at the half.

Courtney Ford led the Pirates with 21 points and nine rebounds. Brittany Taylor added 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists and Devin Hundley and Robin Smith each added 11 points. Point guard Rachael Maulit (pictured left) did a lot of behind-the-scenes work, leading the team with six assists and six steals as OCC forced 21 turnovers in the game.

With the second-half lead never in jeoprady, the Pirates made it clear that the OEC is theirs for the taking.

OCC will return to the Peterson Gym on Wednesday against Irvine Valley. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.
Marlene Oeurn led the Hornets with 11 points, while Vao Faoa added 10.