Irvine Valley’s McNamee Wears Lasers’ Success Well

At first, Irvine Valley women’s basketball Coach Lisa McNamee tried to pass it off as coincidence.

But the pattern of her wearing a piece of clothing--usually a jacket--the same color as her team’s opponent became routine. She had been asked about it and said: “I guess I have to be more careful.”

But Friday, after the first-place Lasers beat Orange Coast, McNamee came clean. When asked about the light peach jacket she was wearing, she confessed: It was the closest thing to something orange in her wardrobe.

But this was just the latest of her fashion choices. When Irvine Valley played Fullerton this season, she wore a yellow jacket. She wore black and red the night the Lasers played Rancho Santiago.

“I’m just trying to have some fun with it,” McNamee said, insisting there is nothing deeper behind it.

Fun is something Irvine Valley has had plenty of this season. The Lasers, thanks in part to being the deepest team in the Orange Empire Conference, are in first place. Irvine Valley (18-6, 5-1) holds a 1 1/2-game lead with four left.

But McNamee hasn’t let any thoughts of the postseason cloud her focus. Instead, she is keeping her players grounded.

“Our big thing is that we are going to go hard for [four] games,” McNamee said.

Those four games all figure to be solid test for Irvine Valley, which leads the conference in rebounding at 51 per game and are outrebounding opponents by 18 per game. “That’s something we really emphasize,” McNamee said.

Pam Loud, a sophomore forward, leads with 10 rebounds per game, followed by sophomore center Alison Carr (7.8) and freshman Heather Cunningham (7.6).

Cunningham, who comes off the bench, leads in scoring at 16. Dyanna Hatch is averaging 13 and Carr 10.

Irvine Valley’s first test in the final four regular-season games is at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Rancho Santiago. The Lasers beat the Dons, 64-49, in the first round but expect a much tougher go of it this time.

Irvine Valley hosts Riverside on Friday. The Tigers upset the Lasers, 76-74, in the first meeting, but the Lasers have a couple of advantages this time. The game is at Irvine and Riverside removed three players from the team for the season for disciplinary reasons last week.