Thornton wins No. 500 as Pirates edge Cuesta, 53-50
COSTA MESA -- Early on, it looked like Mike Thornton was going to have to wait even longer for career win No. 500, but his Orange Coast College women's basketball team found some last-minute magic to pull out a 53-50 victory over visiting Cuesta in the 2011-12 season opener on Friday night.
With the win, Thornton is just one of seven women's basketball coaches to reach the 500-win mark, joining Ned Mircetic (Ventura College), Karen Welliver (Cerritos College), Tom Martinez (College of San Mateo), Caren Franci (Santa Rosa College), Colleen Riley (Fullerton College) and Tom Powers (College of the Siskiyous) in this elite fraternity.
Trailing 46-37 with 6:17 left to play, the Pirates clamped down on defense and ended the game with a 16-4 run to pull out the win.
Ashley Engeln led OCC with 20 points, while Tessie Pikula added 12 points and five rebounds. Michelle Angel scored five of her seven points during that crucial final 6:17, including the eventual game-winning 3-pointer with 24 seconds left.
Anika Bauermeister led the Cougars with 11 points.
Orange Coast will return to the Peterson Gym on Saturday against El Camino, beginning at 2 p.m.
