COMMUNITY COLLEGE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL : Golden West Struggles to Victory

Golden West, playing in the gym where it lost its last Orange Empire Conference game, struggled but beat host Saddleback, 54-48, Wednesday.

It was the 22nd consecutive conference victory for Golden West, ranked second in the state and No. 1 in Southern California.

On Jan. 30, 1992, Saddleback beat Golden West to stop the Rustlers’ 28-game conference winning streak. Golden West has won 50 of its last 51 conference games.

“(Saddleback) always plays pretty good defense on us,” Golden West Coach Dave Stricklin said. “They kind of shut us down a little bit.”

Golden West was 18 of 63 (28.6%) from the field but Saddleback was only slightly better, making 22 of 75 (29.3%).

Michelle Kravik had 19 points and Deana Itow added 14 for Golden West (23-3, 5-0). Kristin Brun, a sophomore guard, also had a career-high 16 rebounds for the Rustlers. Amy Feniello had 14 for Saddleback (6-11, 1-4).

In other Orange Empire Conference games:

Orange Coast 68, Riverside 66--LeAnn Kazmer capped a strong night by making the winning basket with 16.5 seconds left for visiting Orange Coast (14-9, 2-2). Kazmer, a sophomore forward, made nine of 10 shots in the first half and had 21 points. She was 12 of 18 from the field and finished with 27 points. She also had 12 rebounds.

Fullerton 87, Rancho Santiago 62--Nikki Kubota scored a season-high 21 points for host Fullerton (15-10, 3-1), which is tied with Cypress for second place. The teams play Friday at Fullerton.