Women’s Basketball: OCC takes second in own tourney

COSTA MESA — The Orange Coast College women’s basketball team couldn’t overcome a poor shooting performance as the Pirates lost to College of the Canyons, 57-53, in the championship game of the 2012 Erin Tomlinson Coast Christmas Classic on Sunday.

The Pirates (5-5) attempted 71 shots in the game, converting just 17. OCC also struggled from behind the line, making just two three-pointers on 18 attempts.

The only place the Pirates did shoot well was the free-throw line where they hit 17 of 23 attempts from the charity stripe. That wasn’t enough, however, as the Cougars (8-4) were able to hold off the Pirates late rally.

After establishing a 10-point lead at the half, Canyons held on to that double-digit lead from most of the second half. It wasn’t until the final seven minutes that the Pirates truly started to threaten the Cougars’ lead.

After cutting the lead to seven with 7:10 remaining, Coast used four straight offensive rebounds minutes later to get within two with 1:23 remaining. Canyons answered with a quick lay-up to go back up by four with 1:05 left in the game.

The Pirates would only get as close as three points for the remainder of the game as they fell to the Cougars.

Canyons’ Dalisa Chapman was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player after scoring 15 points and grabbing eight rebounds.

For OCC, Dayanara Armenta played her way on to the all-tournament team with 16 points, as one of just two Pirates in double digits. Michelle Angel scored 10 points for the Pirates. OCC’s Jessica Johnson and Jenna Arnett also made the all-tournament team.

Irvine Valley College kicked off Sunday of the tournament with a 67-53 win over Cuesta College to claim the consolation championship. The Lasers (9-6) were led by Amber Wharton, who was named to the all-tournament Team.

Wharton recorded a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while teammate Dominique Santos scored a game-high 18 points, all on three-pointers. Irvine Valley got another double-double out of Shomari McCorkle, who scored 10 points with 15 rebounds.

— From staff reports

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2012 Erin Tomlinson Coast Christmas Classic

Most Valuable Player – Delisa Chapman, College of the Canyons

All-Tournament Team

Nailah Long, College of the Canyons

Hope Smith, College of the Canyons

Dayanara Armenta, Orange Coast College

Jessica Johnson, Orange Coast College

Jenna Arnett, Orange Coast College

Karla Roacho-Cota, Saddleback College

Amber Wharton, Irvine Valley College

Aria Johnson, Cuesta College

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Championship game

Canyons def. Orange Coast, 57-53

Third-place game

Saddleback def. Southwestern, 50-48

Consolation championship

Irvine Valley def. Cuesta, 67-56