COMMUNITY COLLEGE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL STATE TOURNAMENT : OCC Fails to Get Call, Stumbles in Overtime

Orange Coast’s first trip to the women’s State basketball tournament was a short one. Hancock beat the Pirates 82-76, in overtime of a quarterfinal game Thursday at Ventura College.

The loss left OCC Coach Mike Thornton pondering a missed call that changed the flow of the game in overtime.

OCC, the fifth-ranked team in the state, trailed, 74-72, in overtime with 1 minute 30 seconds left. The Pirates (27-6) were pressuring the ball in the front court as a Hancock pass went astray.

OCC’s Ricarda Kuypers and Hancock’s Kristen White went after the ball well into the backcourt. White came up with it, which appeared should have resulted in a backcourt violation. Nothing was called.

Hancock, the third-ranked team in the state, came back to score on a short jumper by Molly Surrett with 1:11 left to take a 76-72 lead.

“That no-call was a killer,” Thornton said. “A real back-breaker.”

OCC got within two twice in the final minute but never had the ball and chance to tie.

OCC’s best opportunity to win came at the end regulation time. Neither team led by more than five points until Hancock scored as time ran out in overtime.

Colleen Hatch scored OCC’s final eight points of the first half and the Pirates led, 36-34, at the break. Hatch, a sophomore forward, finished with a game-high 24 points.

Hatch will play for the South team in the State All-Star Game at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Ventura.

The teams were tied six times in the second half, the final time coming when Hatch made a pair of free throws with one minute left to make it 68-68.

Hancock had a chance to take the lead, but Tania Brunton missed the front end of a one-and-one situation with 27 seconds left.

Kazmer got the rebound and OCC called time out. OCC worked it around, then called timeout again with 14 seconds left.

But after the inbound pass, the ball was knocked loose, and Kazmer picked it up and missed a twisting 15-footer with two seconds left.

Kuypers and Jana Davis each had 17 for OCC. Davis had 10 in the first half as she helped OCC foil Hancock’s attempt at a full-court press.