Orange Coast College

Women's Basketball: Pirates win Thanksgiving Classic!

Monday, November 26, 2007

PALM DESERT -- Led by the strong play of Tournament MVP Courtney Ford, the Orange Coast College women's basketball team took home the Thanksgiving Classic Tournament trophy following wins over Glendale (82-50), Mt. San Jacinto (73-61) and Riverside (69-60).

Ford averaged 24.6 points, 9.1 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 2.6 steals per game for the Pirates (6-1), who are ranked No. 1 in the state, according to the latest JCScores.com polls.

Sophomore teammate Rachael Maulit joined Ford on the All-Tournament team as she paced the offense with 22 assists (7.3 per game) and added 17 points and 12 steals in the three-game set.

Against Glendale in the opener, the Pirates took control of things early on and jumped out to a 31-14 lead after the first half and never looked back. Ford led the way with 22 points, seven rebounds, six assists and four steals, while Casey Gomez added 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor. Katie Kissee added 11 points, while Brittany Taylor saw her first action of the season following a sprained ankle and added 10 points. The Pirates forced Glendale into 34 turnovers and just 40 field-goal attempts for the game to OCC's 64.

The win sent OCC to the semifinals against 16th ranked Mt. San Jacinto. Again Ford's 26-point, 11-rebound, seven-assist performance led the way, other solid performances came from teammates Simone Ibbotson (13 points, 6-of-8 shooting) and Maulit (10 points, six rebounds, five assists, six steals). Once again, OCC's defense held Mt. San Jacinto to just 18-of-47 shooting (38.3 percent) and 26 turnovers, while the Pirates were 29-of-66 from the floor and committed just eight turnovers.

In the tourney title game, a pair of Orange Empire Conference teams went at it as OCC took on Riverside. Twenty Riverside turnovers, combined with 11 3-pointers from the Pirates proved too much for the Tigers to overcome. OCC led by as many as 19 (53-34) with 11:35 left in the game and never looked back.

Ford ended the tournament in style, scoring 26 points, grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out six assists. Maulit again got the offense going with a game-high 10 assists and offensive support was provided by Katie Kissee (12 points) and Gomez (11 points).

The Pirates return to tournament action on Thursday when they travel to Cuesta College to compete in the Conoco Phillips Invitational. OCC will take on Allan Hancock at 3:30 p.m.