Women’s Basketball Playoffs

Moorpark 64, MiraCosta 52--The Lady Raiders made the most of their six-hour round-trip to Oceanside by upsetting sixth-seeded MiraCosta in the first round of the Southern California regional playoffs.

“It seems like every playoff game we get we have to drive somewhere or we get a really high-ranked team,” said Moorpark Coach Gary Abraham, whose three-year playoff record is 1-2.

Moorpark (23-7) fell behind by six early in the first half but rallied and led, 37-29, at intermission. MiraCosta (20-5), which averaged 72 points a game, was unable to trim the deficit to less than eight.

Kristie Sterbens paced the Lady Raiders with 15 points and 10 assists. Susie Smiley and Cindy Wiley each scored 10.

“They never really got into their offense and we changed defenses quite a bit,” Abraham said. “They looked a little confused.”