OCC women sting Hornets; men drop 66-57 OEC verdict

A 9-6 advantage in overtime vaulted the Orange Coast College

women’s basketball team to a 68-65 victory over the visiting

Fullerton Hornets Wednesday night.

In a game that saw 13 ties and 18 lead changes, Coast (21-4, 6-1

in the Orange Empire Conference) got 25 points from Liz Mendoza on

10-of-21 shooting followed by Lindsey Galasso (13) and Nancy Hatsushi

(11) in the scoring column for the Pirates.

Fullerton (16-8, 3-4) had two players collect a double-double

(points and rebounds) as Stephanie Hanifan led with 17 points and 12 boards while Jessica Jennings tallied 16 and 10, respectively. Nicole

Garber (15) and Reena Gonzales (14) also contributed to Fullerton’s

37.9 shooting percentage. Coast went 38.1% from the field.

The Hornets outrebounded the Pirates, 48-33, but Coast hit on 9 of

23 from three-point range while Fullerton was 5 of 15 from behind the

arc.

The game was tied, 28-28, at halftime.

* In the Coast men’s game, Lanier Brown shot 4 of 5 from

three-point range and finished 7 of 9 from the field to score a

team-high 18 points, but Coast dropped a conference game to visiting

Fullerton, 66-57.

Fullerton (16-9, 3-4 in conference) shot lights out (57.1%) while

Coast (14-9, 3-4) made only 8 of 23 field goal attempts in the first

half and finished at 40.8%.

Fullerton scored 24 points off turnovers to Coast’s 14 and

outscored the Pirates, 41-36, in the second half.

Alfonso James and Jason Garey each had eight points followed by

Matt Hatch with six along. Dimitrius Alexander and Stephon Seales

tallied five points apiece.

Garey and Nykolas Peppers each had two steals.