Pirates upset by L.A. Trade Tech in playoff

COSTA MESA -- It was a rough way to end the 2025-26 season for the Orange Coast College women's basketball team as the No. 4-seeded Pirates were upset by No. 13-seeded L.A. Trade Tech College, 52-48 on Saturday night inside the Peterson Gym in the second round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs.

The hopes of a fourth-straight trip to the 3C2A State Tournament were dashed by a tall, aggressive LATTC squad who found a way to overcome an 11-point deficit early in the fourth quarter.

Andrea Rico led OCC (20-9) with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Melaiah Joseph added 11 points, seven rebounds and five steals and Lexi Mercado added 10 points and three assists. Karley Waite came off the bench and helped neutralize the Beavers' size and pulled down seven rebounds. 

For the Beavers (21-9), they will travel to MiraCosta College for a third-round matchup against the Spartans next Saturday at 7 p.m. They were led by Niela Williams with 19 points (9-of-10 from the free-throw line), Athieng Bol (15 points, six assists) and Erin Jackson (11 points, nine rebounds).

LATTC came out of a ragged opening quarter for both teams (a 9-6 Beaver lead) and found the range from 3-point land, going 5-for-9 from downtown in the second quarter, putting Trade-Tech up 27-18 at the half. Meanwhile, the host Pirates did not find comfort inside the Peterson Gym, going 2-of-17 from 3-point range in the first half and 7-of-30 from the floor.

In the third quarter, Coast found offensive flow through defensive pressure and turned up the heat on the Beavers. Coast held Trade-Tech to just four third-quarter points, turning a 9-point deficit into a 8-point Pirate lead after three quarters, 39-31. Coast forced seven LATTC turnovers in the third quarter and completely turned the game around.

The OCC lead grew to 11 at 42-31 after an opening-possession 3-pointer by Joseph. But a 9-0 Beaver run over the next 3 minutes of play brought Trade-Tech back to within a bucket at 42-40 with 6:30 remaining in the game.

A Rico layup with 2:17 left in the game put Coast up, 48-45, but that would be the last points scored in the Pirates' season. Back-to-back made free throws by Williams and made layup by Jackson with 58 seconds remaining, put the Beavers back out in front for good. 

Trailing 50-48, Coast had one final chance with 13 seconds left when Joseph appeared to have a good look on a 3-point attempt to put OCC back in front, but Bol used her 6'1, athletic frame and swatted the shot away, allowing Jackson to pick up the rebound. Two more made free throws by Williams iced the game with 5 seconds remaining.

LATTC outscored Coast in the fourth quarter, 21-9, to pick up the win. Coast finished the night making just 17-of-66 from the floor (25.8 percent) and 6-of-35 from 3-point range (17.1 percent). The Pirates stayed in the game thanks to a 49-41 rebounding edge over the taller Beavers, but 18 OCC turnovers and a rough night shooting were too much to overcome.