Bucs stun No. 1 seed, 59-57

Orange Coast College women’s basketball team made its fair share of

history Saturday night.

The Pirates (29-7) upset top-seeded Ventura, 59-57, in the

California Community Colleges Commission on Athletics State

Basketball Championships at the Jenny Craig Pavilion to advance to

their first-ever appearance in a state final today against the

North’s No. 1 seed, Contra Costa, at 3:30 p.m.

Saturday’s win ends Ventura’s reign of three consecutive state

titles.

“That’s by far the best win I’ve had,” said OCC Coach Mike

Thornton, in his 14th season at Coast. “These kids just find a way to

win. We talked to them after we realized we weren’t going to win the

conference championship and told them they had a real special chance

to be playing on the last day of the season and now we are.”

Coast displayed a staggering defense in the first half to limit

Ventura to 9 of 30 from the floor, including 2-of-7 from three-point

range, and forcing seven turnovers. The Pirates built a 31-24

halftime edge, largely on the shoulders of Liz Mendoza, who scored

all 10 of her points at the break. Lindsey Galasso, who also

collected 10 in the first 20 minutes, finished with a team-leading 17

points, converting 9 of 12 free-throw attempts in that span.

The Bucs knocked down 24 of 33 at the foul line (72.7%) while

Ventura, also nicknamed the Pirates, hit just 11 of 21 (52.4%).

Coast sophomore guard Nancy Hatsushi tallied 13 points, including

4-of-4 from the line while Lauren Murray netted 10 points and six

rebounds. Alisa Carrillo, who fouled out after her 22 minutes,

tallied three points, attempting just three shots and converting one.

Amy Shaw hit a three-pointer to lead Coast to seven straight points

in the first half to increase its advantage to 25-16.

In similar fashion in this state tournament, the Bucs saw the

seven-point halftime lead dwindle, as they went scoreless the first

five minutes and 43 seconds of the second half before Murray

converted a conventional three-point play to ignite a 6-0 run that

increased the margin to 37-30 with 13:34 to play.

The Pirates went scoreless the next 3:25 and Ventura went on an

8-0 run, compounded by an ankle injury to Mendoza that caused her to

sit out for six minutes.

When Mendoza returned to the floor, the team gained an added bit

of confidence.

“(Ventura) always makes runs and we always go through dry spells

and I knew that was going to happen,” Thornton said. “That’s the way

things have gone the last two games. We seem to weather the storm and

come back and make big plays and hit some shots.”

State Co-Player of the Year, Courtney Young, scored four-straight

points to close the gap to one, but Hatsushi hit two free throws with

47.9 seconds left, the second proving to be the game-winner.

“We will do anything not to lose,” said Hatsushi, who played a

team-leading 35 minutes. “When we’ve got down, we just seem to pick

it up no matter what the situation is. We’ve made it this far so we

aren’t just going to give up.”

Sarah Queen, who finished with 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting,

missed a pair of free throws with 35 seconds left, and Coast still

led, 58-55. Orange Coast turned the ball over with 21 seconds left

against full-court pressure and Kelly Fay answered with a driving

layup. Ventura had one last chance after Galasso missed her second

free throw, but Fay dribbled the ball off her foot and out of bounds

under the Coast basket with two ticks left and Hatsushi ran out the

clock.

Young led all scorers with 18 points. Mendoza and Murray combined

for 13 of Coast’s 35 rebounds. Ventura tallied 44 behind leader

Rachel Kolbeck’s eight. OCC shot 31.1% (14 of 45) while Ventura made

22 of 58 attempts from the floor (37.9%). OCC made seven

three-pointers to Ventura’s two.

Galasso led Coast with three assists with Mendoza and Hatsushi

adding two each. Candice Quiroz tallied two points and Kirsten Von

Tungeln converted one of her four free-throw attempts to get in the

scoring column.

Coast knocked off Ventura for the second time this season with

Saturday’s win. Contra Costa defeated OCC, 69-63, in the finals of

the Ventura Tournament Dec. 1, one day after the Pirates defeated

Ventura.