Cypress Women Stun Third-Ranked Orange Coast, 68-52

Cypress, on the brink of two major upsets earlier this season, finally pulled one off Wednesday, a stunning 68-52 victory over visiting Orange Coast, the state’s third-ranked women’s basketball team.

It was only the second Orange Empire Conference victory for Cypress (7-17, 2-7), which dominated the second half.

Nothing looked amiss early for OCC (23-3, 7-2), which made its first three shots and opened an 18-5 lead.

But the Pirates missed 17 of their first 19 shots of the second half and were outscored, 32-14. OCC is two games behind first-place Santa Ana with five left.

The solid performance didn’t surprise Cypress Coach Margaret Mohr. The Chargers have played well at times, including a one-point loss to Santa Ana and a five-point loss to OCC in the first round.

“We were down, 18-5, and just playing terribly,” Mohr said, “but after that these kids just showed so much character.”

OCC led, 38-36, at the half and was ahead, 41-38, with 16 minutes 40 seconds left. But the Pirates missed their next 10 shots and didn’t score again until Leah Wilde made a three-pointer with 8:27 left.

By then Cypress was ahead, 49-44. Then the Chargers went on a 5-0 run and OCC was never closer than nine the rest of the way.

Freshman guard Allison Chow scored all 10 of her points in the second half, including a three-pointer that gave the Chargers their first lead, 42-41, with 13:58 left.

Sophomore forward Sharee Brown scored nine of her 17 in the second half for Cypress.

Freshman guard Triana Allen had a game-high 18 points for Cypress, 15 in the first half. Tiana Liufau added 15 for Cypress.