Return Voyage! Pirates top Eagles and get back to State Tourney

COSTA MESA -- New team ... same results! For the second year in a row, the Orange Coast College women's basketball team is returning to the Big Dance after topping Mt. San Jacinto College, 88-66, in the Southern California Regional Finals on Saturday night inside a packed Peterson Gym.

With the win, Coast (27-3) will be heading to Mt. San Antonio College, site of this year's 3C2A Women's Basketball State Championships. There, the South's No. 3-seeded Pirates will play the No. 2 seed out of the North -- San Joaquin Delta College -- on Thursday afternoon with a time to be announced.

"Wow, we were locked in!" said happy head coach Sammy Doucette after the win. "I'm so proud of this group. Tonight, they didn't want their season to end and quite frankly, neither did MSJC. They played hard tonight, but we were able to make the big plays down the stretch to keep them from coming all the way back."

Bridgette McIntyre led the Pirates with 23 points and six rebounds. Myia Collins scored a season-high 20 points and eight rebounds. Alyssa Dreessen anchored the Pirate defense with four blocks and five rebounds, while Jordan Arreola knocked down four big 3-pointers for her 12 points and six rebounds. 

"It feels amazing to know that I got the privilege to help this team get back to the state tournament," Collins said. "I honestly knew how much this game meant to everyone, especially my teammates. I just wanted to do what I could do to help get us to what we've been working so hard for! See everyone's faces at the end made me even more excited for the games to come. I love this team!"

Breyonna Bell had 20 points, seven rebounds, five assists and six steals for the Eagles, while Vika Afungia came off the bench to supply 12 points and six rebounds. 

Coast set the pace early, taking a 25-14 lead after the first quarter of play and after an Ashari Cassell 3-pointer off the bat in the second quarter, the lead grew to 28-14. 

The Pirates continued to roll early on. With Collins hitting 3-pointers from all over the court in the first half, the lead grew to as many as 22 points (46-24) before MSJC crept back into the game with a 14-3 run to cut the lead to 11 at the break.

Another strong start by OCC pushed the lead back up to 17, but the Eagles would not go away and another run by the guests to within eight early in the fourth quarter.

But the Pirates showed the heart of a champion down the stretch, holding the Eagles to just six fourth-quarter points, pulling away for good from there.

Coast drained 14 3-pointers in the game and forced 16 MSJC turnovers with steady and intense defensive pressure.

With the loss, the Eagles, champions of the Inland Empire Athletic Conference, end their season with a solid 23-5 record.