Orange Coast College

Women's Basketball: Pirates win Santa Barbara Tournament

Monday, November 10, 2008

SANTA BARBARA -- It was a successful weekend for the Orange Coast College women's basketball team after winning the 2008 SBCC MTXE Tournament, held at Santa Barbara City College.

The Pirates (3-0) opened things with a 75-39 win over Long Beach City, then topped fellow Orange Empire Conference resident, Santa Ana, 48-41 to earn a trip to the finals.

In the finals, OCC took on Antelope Valley and led by a game-high 14 points from Simone Ibbotson, the Pirates topped the Marauders, 57-51, to win the tourney title.

"We played much better in that third game than we did in the previous two games," OCC head coach Mike Thornton said. "We really stepped things up as a team and defeated a very strong Antelope Valley team that I think is one of the top five teams in Southern California."

Samantha Harrell and Casey Gomez (Tournament MVP) each added 10 points, while Jenna Lujan led OCC in rebounding with six.

Gomez, Harrell and Ibbotson each earned All-Tournament honors for the Pirates, who return to action on Thursday at Mt. San Jacinto College, beginning at 5 p.m.