Pirates find offensive success to cap off regular season

MISSION VIEJO -- The baskets FINALLY began to fall for the Orange Coast College women's basketball team as the Pirates earned a hard-fought 77-68 win at Saddleback College to wrap up the regular season on Friday night.

It was an important on so many levels for the Pirates (20-8, 8-4 in the Orange Empire Conference). With the win, Coast most likely earned itself some more home games for the postseason as OCC finished tied with Cypress and the Bobcats for second place in the always-competitive OEC. With their strong nonconference schedule and success, the Pirates should earn one of the higher seeds as the Southern California Regional Playoffs kick off next week. Seedings will take place on Sunday so be sure to log to www.occpirateathletics.com for the latest playoff information as it becomes available.

It was also an important win just for the smiles on the faces of the Pirate shooters, who scored 70-or-more points for just the second time over the past 11 games, dating back to Jan. 7. Against some of the best teams in the state during nonconference time, Coast topped 70 points nine different times over that 16-game span.

It was a trio of freshmen leading the way for the Pirates, with Andrea Rico topping them all with 22 points to go along with a team-best seven rebounds. Lexi Mercado found her success from the free-throw line (12-of-12) and finished with 17 points, four rebounds and five assists, while Bianca Carter nailed four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points.

Off the bench, Nicole Uballe provided more freshman depth with nine points and five rebounds. 

Rico got the Pirates off strong in the first quarter with 12 points in the opening 10 minutes of play with a perfect 5-of-5 shooting from the field (1-1 from 3) and a made free throw, putting Coast up, 24-13. 

That 11-point lead was taken through the second quarter and extended to 18 after three quarters, as the Pirates pulled away to a 57-39 advantage.

Saddleback (20-8, 8-4) struggled through the first three quarters against OCC's defense before pushing back in the fourth with 29 points. The Bobcats got hot early in the fourth and trimmed the deficit down to just seven at 61-54 with 5:22 left in the game.

But, leading by six, Carter came up with the clutch shot for the Pirates, nailing a 3-pointer with 3:22 remaining and, after a Karley Waite layup a minute later, Coast's lead was back up to 11 at 67-56.

From there, it came down to free throws, where OCC hit 15-of-20 over the final 10 minutes to preserve the win. For the game, Coast made 25-of-30 from the line, led by Mercado's aforementioned 12-of-12 shooting.

Coast returns to the postseason for the fifth consecutive season and hopes for fourth straight trip to the 3C2A Women's Basketball State Championship Tournament, which takes place March 12-15 at College of the Sequoias, located in Visalia.