Orange Coast College

Women's Basketball: Pirates top Palomar in season-opener

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

COSTA MESA -- Coaches always fear of their teams "peaking early" at the start of a season.

For OCC skipper Mike Thornton and his women's basketball team, that fear was quickly eliminated after a season-opening 63-55 win over visiting Palomar on Wednesday at the Peterson Gym.

It was a ragged night of shooting for the Pirates as they shot an icy 25.8 percent from the field (17-of-66) and 19.4 percent from 3-point range.

What enabled Coast to win on Wednesday was its traditional smothering defense that not only forced 38 turnovers, but it enabled the Pirates the opportunity to hoist up 27 more shots than the Comets, 66-39.

Gritty players find a way to score even when the jumpers aren't falling and for sophomore Courtney Ford, she did just that as she willed her way to 31 points, 11 rebounds and six steals despite shooting just 9-of-24 from the floor and 1-of-7 from downtown. After hitting just 3 of 12 shots in the first half, Ford responded with a 24-point second half, 11 of those points coming from the free-throw line.

Erin Barney was the Pirates' steady shooter in the first half as she scored all 11 of her points in the opening 20 minutes on 3-of-4 shooting from 3-point land. Katie Kissee added six points and grabbed five rebounds against a much-taller Palomar team.

It was a battle of two all-staters from a year ago, with Ford -- a first-team selection -- out-dueling Palomar's second-team standout Sabrina Gonzalez and her 23-point performance.

Trailing 14-9 early on, the Pirates clamped down on the Comets and ripped off 15 straight points before Palomar called a timeout to stop the bleeding. A Kristin Marquardt free throw with 2:25 left in the first half snapped a scoreless drought that lasted over seven-and-half minutes. PCC was held without a field goal for the final 11:15 of the first half as OCC scored 20 of the final 22 points to lead 29 16 at the break.

The second-half advantage climbed as high as 22 points at 41-19 before Palomar slowly climbed back into the game as the OCC shots continued off course.

A three-point play from Ford with 8:42 left gave Coast a 49-28 lead with 8:42, but that would be the last field goal the Pirates would make the rest of the game.

Palomar closed the game with a 27-14 run, but it wasn't enough as the Pirates made enough free throws down the stretch to keep the Comets away from any serious threats.

OCC, ranked third in Southern California and sixth in the state, returns to action on Friday at the Mt. San Antonio Tip-Off Tournament against the defending state champion and preseason No. 1 ranked Mounties, beginning at 7 p.m.