Pirates End Skid Against Rustlers

Orange Coast ended a 22-game losing streak against district-rival Golden West with a 78-62 victory in an Orange Empire Conference women’s basketball game Friday at Golden West.

It also ended a 15-game losing streak against Golden West for Orange Coast Coach Mike Thornton. But Thornton said ending the streak, which dated to the 1985-86 season, wasn’t the focus.

“We just talked about the win in the context of getting back into the conference race,” Thornton said. “I don’t think very many of my players were even aware of [the streak].”

Golden West led early, but Orange Coast used a 14-2 run to take a 30-23 lead with about five minutes left in the first half.

Orange Coast (15-7, 3-1) led 41-33 at the break and quickly extended the lead to 47-33 on two three-pointers by Adria Sortino (12 points).

Orange Coast’s biggest lead was 57-39 with about 13 minutes to play. Golden West (5-14, 0-4) cut the lead in half with a 9-0 run, but the Pirates stopped the Rustlers’ momentum on a three-point play by wing Jennifer Ludwicki. Ludwicki scored 19 points and reserve forward Chantay Peyton had 17.