COMMUNITY COLLEGE ROUNDUP : Murdent Sparks Golden West Rout

Julie Murdent, selected the Orange Empire Conference player of the year this week, turned in one of her most dominating performances of the season Thursday.

Murdent made 12 of 14 shots from the field and finished with 30 points as Golden West beat Santa Monica, 97-61, in a Southern California playoff game in Huntington Beach.

It was the 15th consecutive victory for Golden West (28-5), which plays host to Long Beach in the third round at 7 p.m. Saturday.

The winner advances to the State tournament starting March 2 at Orange Coast.

Murdent, a sophomore forward, was 10 of 10 from the field in the first half as Golden West took a 49-30 lead. She played about eight minutes of the second half before coming out for good.

“We were in better shape,” Golden West Coach Dick Stricklin said. “We just wore them out. Our kids were up for the game.”

Katie Miner had 17 points, 13 in the second half, and 11 rebounds. Farrah Magee had 14 and Deana Itow 12.

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In other playoff games:

Long Beach 72, Saddleback 68--Nicole Zuniga scored 17 points and Maggie Gorska had 12 points and nine rebounds for visiting Saddleback, which finished 16-11. Jhamara French scored 17 for Long Beach (19-8).

Canyons 73, Orange Coast 64--Orange Coast’s America Robledo made two free throws with 2:27 left to cut Canyons’ lead to 66-64, but the Pirates (21-13) didn’t score again. Robledo had 18 and Jamie Shine 13.

Hancock 56, Cypress 33--Judy Caruso scored a game-high 18 for Cypress, which finished 21-12.

In nonconference baseball:

Fullerton 2, Cerritos 1--Pancho Ruiz scored on a wild pitch in the eighth inning for visiting Fullerton (14-1).

Long Beach 5, Orange Coast 4--Geoff Wilson and Brian Salterelli each went three for five for Orange Coast (8-7).

In Orange Empire Conference men’s tennis:

Cypress 9, Orange Coast 0--Dan Dao won in singles match, 6-1, 6-0, and joined Dean Ras to win, 6-3, 6-0, in doubles for Cypress (3-1, 1-0).

Golden West 9, Fullerton 0--Mike Edwards of Golden West beat Weston Winkler, 6-0, 6-0, in No. 1 singles for Golden West (3-1, 1-1).