Orange Coast College

Women's Basketball: Pirate clinch tie of OEC title with win over Tigers

Friday, February 15, 2008

RIVERSIDE -- Freshman forward Simone Ibbotson (pictured) had 23 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Orange Coast College women's basketball team to an 83-55 Orange Empire Conference road win over Riverside on Friday.

With the win, OCC (27-3, 11-1) clinches at least a share of the OEC conference title with two games remaining.

Katie Kissee added 15 points, five rebounds and three steals for the Pirates. Courtney Ford added 11 points and a team-high 11 rebounds and teammate Brittany Taylor chipped in 10 points and four rebounds. Point guard Rachael Maulit again sparked the offense with a game-high seven assists.

As been the pattern for most of this season, the game was won in the first half for the Pirates as they clamped down on the Tigers' offense, holding them to an icy 7-of-35 shooting in the first half (20 percent). OCC scored the game's first nine points and never looked back, grabbing a 20-point lead with 2:52 left in the first half.

Coast's biggest lead came at 71-37, with 8:18 left in the game.

LeNiece Arevalo led the Tigers (12-17, 5-7) with 14 points, but had a game-high 10 turnovers. Crystal Vazques added 12 points, while BrookeLynne Smithson added nine points and a game-high 16 rebounds.

Next up for the Pirates is a rematch with second-place Saddleback, set for Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. Coast slipped past the Gauchos with a 77-74 double-overtime win, back on Jan. 25 at OCC.