Orange Coast hangs 100 on Citrus

COSTA MESA — “I’ve been coaching for a long time, and that’s my worst loss ever,” Citrus College Coach Eric Anderson said after the game to nobody in particular. That statement was the apt description for what took place at Orange Coast College Tuesday.

The OCC women’s basketball team led Anderson to sound so defeated in the Pirates’ home-opening rout of the Owls, a 100-49 nonconference win. Freshman Courtney Ford led OCC with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Robin Smith had 17 points and Katie Kissee (16), Brittany Taylor (11) and Lindsay Allen (10) also scored in double figures for the Pirates, who improved to 3-2.

Orange Coast, which returns only starting guard Devin Hundley from last year’s state semifinalist team, dominated from the beginning. Both teams wanted to run in the early first half, but that style fit Orange Coast far better than Citrus (0-5).

OCC poured in seven points in the first 73 seconds of the game, getting a put-back layup from Ford, a jumper from Smith and a three-pointer from Taylor to take an early 7-0 lead. The barrage forced the visiting Owls to call an early timeout.

“Coach [Mike Thornton] wants us to play a full 40 minutes of hard work,” said Taylor, a second-team All-CIF selection last year at Santa Margarita High. “That’s our goal every game, to play a full 40 minutes. I think we did about half of that today, but we started off good.”

The Pirates kept pressing, with Kissee’s three-pointer extending the lead to 20-6 with 15 minutes left in the half.

Smith, a transfer from Irvine Valley College, did well handling the point guard responsibilities. She compiled eight points, three assists and four steals in the first half alone, which ended with the Pirates up, 52-23. On the game, she had five assists and five steals to go along with her 17 points.

Orange Coast made 25 of a whopping 46 first-half shot attempts (54.3%). For the game, the Pirates shot 55.7%.

“Sometimes it’s hard to play in situations where you know the other team isn’t that strong,” Thornton said. “But our goal was to play with intensity the whole game, and we did that, other than having a letdown in the last five minutes of the first half. We’re headed in the right direction. We do have two players who have played college basketball before, and 10 who haven’t.”

Citrus’ JaTon Parham, a 5-foot-11 sophomore forward, scored 19 points — 39 percent of her team’s total offense. She also had nine rebounds and three blocked shots.

Thornton said having a physical presence inside is something that Orange Coast is still working on.

He said that Tuesday’s victory was the first time that the Pirates had outrebounded an opponent. OCC outrebounded the Owls, 46-24.

Allen grabbed seven rebounds and Erin Barney had six boards.

Orange Coast collected 17 offensive rebounds.

“We’re not a strong, physical team inside,” Thornton said. “Our two big players, Christina [Calcagno] and Lindsay [Allen], have to get more physical. They’re getting better, and they’ll have to continue doing that.”

Calcagno chipped in with six points off the bench on Tuesday.

The only real drama in the second half was whether the Pirates would reach the century mark.

They did, on Taylor’s basket with 50 seconds left in the game.

Even playing many of its subs in the second half, Orange Coast outscored Citrus, 48-26.

“Everyone was playing hard, and we were moving the ball well,” said freshman guard Rachael Maulit, who had six points and three assists. “At halftime, the score is still 0-0. That’s how it is for us.”

Orange Coast plays host to Grossmont in another nonconference contest Saturday at 2 p.m.

Nonconference

Orange Coast 100,

Citrus 49

Citrus -- Parham 19, Sirk 11, Bailey 8, Harris 8, Buchanan 2, Antonio 1.

3-pt. goals -- Sirk 3, Bailey 1.

Fouled out -- None.

Technicals -- None.

Orange Coast -- Ford 20, Smith 17, Kissee 16, Taylor 11, Allen 10, Hundley 8, Maulit 6, Calcagno 6, Wang 4, Schmidt 2.

3-pt. goals -- Kissee 2, Smith 1, Taylor 1, Wang 1.

Fouled out -- Ford.

Technicals -- None.