Offense comes alive as Pirates cruise past Dons
COSTA MESA -- In a year where offensive success has been hard to find, the Orange Coast College women's basketball found the right formula on Wednesday and cruised to a 61-44 Orange Empire Conference win against visiting Santa Ana College.
Jenna Arnett led OCC (9-10, 1-1 in OEC) with 13 points, while Anna Bartel added 12 points and Ashley Engeln contributed 11. Michelle Angel contributed seven points, four rebounds and six assists, while Jalecia Wilson added six points off the bench. It was the 21st consecutive win over the Dons, dating back to the 2001-02 season.
For the Dons (4-13, 0-3), Janelle Flores overcame early foul trouble to lead the way with 17 points and five rebounds, while Anna Nguyen added 12 points.
The drama left the Peterson Gym early in this contest as a 14-2 Pirate run put the hosts up 19-6 midway through the first half. That advantage -- which grew to as many as 22 on two different occasions -- didn't get below double digits the rest of the evening.
A team that relied on long-rang perimeter shots early in the season, used the forward combination of Arnett and Bartel successfully throughout the game. The freshmen duo combined to make 11 of 17 shots (64.7 percent), while the rest of the team was just 11-of-33 (33.3 percent) from the floor.
The Pirates will play at Irvine Valley College on Friday night (7:30 p.m.) and at Saddleback College on Wednesday night (7:30 p.m.) OCC's next home game will be on Friday, Jan. 20 against Riverside College (7:30 p.m.).
