Pirates grind out 81-73 win over East L.A. to advance to regional finals

1. COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College women's basketball team got bumped around a bit tonight against an aggressive East Los Angeles College squad, but the Pirates withstood the push and pushed back to win a hard-fought 81-73 decision over the visiting Huskies on Saturday night in the second round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs.

"I'm so proud of our team," OCC head coach Sammy Doucette said after the win. "ELAC played an amazing game. We fought through a lot of adversity tonight."

With the win, the 4th-seeded Pirates (26-3) will get one final home game on Saturday night and will host No. 6 Mt. San Jacinto (23-4), beginning at 7 p.m. The Eagles advanced with an 84-54 win over Citrus on Saturday night.

With three first-team, all-state standouts on the floor -- Ashari Cassell and Bridgette McIntyre for OCC and Lupe Vazquez for ELAC -- the Pirates needed to take their game to the next level and it took a little time finding that gear.

Cassell got the Pirates going early on, but early foul trouble derailed her strong beginning to the game. She came back in the second half and took over, leading the Pirates with 24 points and four assists. McIntyre overcame a chilly first half and finished with 19 points and seven assists. She hit four 3-pointers for the night, which places McIntyre in a category of one, becoming the first OCC player in women's basketball history to have over 100 made 3-pointers in a single season (102). 

Early points from Jordan Arreola (10 points for the game) and late points from Sabrina Lopez (10 points, five rebounds) helped balance the offense out for Coast, while down low, the duo of Alyssa Dreessen and Myia Collins combined for 13 points and 15 rebounds.

Vazquez showed the Pirates and everyone in the stands why she earned first-team, all-state status, scoring 30 points and dishing out five assists on 12-of-22 shooting, fresh off of a 49-point night against Canyons a few days earlier.

Makaia Smith was the perfect "Robin" to Lupe's "Batman", scoring 23 points and grabbing 17 rebounds. Entering the game averaging 13 points and six boards per game, Smith went to work early and kept the Huskies close to the defending state champions. Her 23 points and 17 rebounds were both season highs for the Huskie sophomore.

Both teams found baskets in transition and the early first-quarter action went back and forth, with Coast using a mini-run late to grab a 21-16 edge after the opening 10 minutes.

With Cassell on the bench with two fouls, Hailey Estrada (five points, four rebounds, seven assists) stepped up and filled in well, helping the Pirates stay ahead of the Huskies ... but still, Coast only led by a pair at the break, 40-38.

After going 0-for-7 from 3-point range in the first half, McIntyre found her shot in the halftime warmups and came out shooting early in the third quarter, sparking a 19-8 run to give Coast its biggest lead of the night, 59-46, with just over 2 minutes left in the third quarter.

But with 7 minutes left in the game, a 14-3 run pulled the Huskies back to within a basket at 62-60.

McIntyre drove to the hoop and buried a trey to break a 65-65 tie and give Coast a 70-65 edge with 4:46 left. Coast managed to go 4-for-4 from the free-throw line in crunch time and clutch baskets by Cassell and Lopez down the stretch prevented the Huskies from an upset bid.