OCC hits century mark on Rustlers

COSTA MESA — The Orange Coast College women’s basketball team dominated the statistics in its 100-40 win over Golden West on Wednesday night at OCC.

The most telling stat in the Pirates’ Orange Empire Conference-opening victory, however, may have been zero.

OCC committed no turnovers in the first half, finishing with just five on the game. Golden West, by comparison, turned the ball over 35 times.

“We have a lot more quickness than them, and our guards are a lot better,” Pirates Coach Mike Thornton said. “They can’t really handle the ball.”

Thornton was just as critical when assessing his own team’s play. The Pirates (15-3, 1-0 in conference) are used to blowing teams out, but shot just 39% from the field in the first half.

Still, because OCC collected 15 offensive rebounds and 12 steals by halftime, the Pirates had a whopping 56 shot attempts in the first half alone.

Golden West (2-13, 0-1) had just 19 first-half shot attempts.

“Our goal was to play 40 minutes hard,” Thornton said. “I’m not sure we played 40 minutes hard, and we didn’t play as well as we could play. It’s kind of ridiculous to say that when you win by 60 points, but I didn’t think we played as well as we could play.

“Honestly, we can shoot a lot better than we shot tonight.”

The Pirates did hit three consecutive three-pointers, by Courtney Ford, Devin Hundley and Katie Kissee, to open up a 31-2 lead with nine minutes, 50 seconds left in the first half.

They ended the half strong as well, scoring 10 points in the final minute. Rachael Maulit had one of her five steals with seconds to go, feeding Ford for a layup at the buzzer and a 56-16 halftime advantage.

“Our whole basis is that if we’re not making shots, then keep playing hard on defense,” said Robin Smith, who finished with 10 points and two three-pointers. “Eventually, they’ll fall in … If we keep with our defense then everything should just fall into place.”

Golden West scored the first five points of the second half, but then the Pirates went on an 11-0 run. As Orange Coast kept advancing its lead, Thornton kept going to the bench.

Eleven of OCC’s 12 active players had scored after Yoshie Honda drained a three-pointer with 2:50 to go.

Hundley finished with a game-high 21 points and was one of three Pirates — along with Ford and Christina Calcagno — with nine rebounds.

“Team basketball really helps us out,” Hundley said. “The more we play team ball, the better we get, so it was really good for us tonight to come out and play team ball. The fact that we hustle and rebound really helps out the overall offense and overall defense.”

Brittany Taylor added 12 points for OCC, and Maulit had a game-high seven assists. Siutiti Takai had 12 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Rustlers.

After the game, Thornton said his biggest concern was probably that OCC hasn’t been challenged in many of its wins.

“We’re playing the same schedule as we always do, but the teams just aren’t as good,” he said.

Even so, he said he expects a stronger challenge from Cypress, who the Pirates play host to on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

The OCC men play at 5:30.

“Their record [8-9] is misleading,” Thornton said of Cypress. “They’ve got really good talent and athletes, and they won the state championship [in 2005].”

Orange Empire ConferenceGolden West -- Takai 12, Carr 10, Jones 8, Romero 4, Kitsuda 3, Torres 3.

Orange Coast 100,

Golden West 40

3-pt. goals -- Jones 1.

Fouled out -- Ropati.

Technicals -- None.

Orange Coast -- Hundley 21, Ford 17, Taylor 12, Kissee 10, Smith 10, Allen 8, Calcagno 6, Barney 5, Maulit 4, Schmidt 4, Honda 3.

3-pt. goals -- Hundley 5, Kissee 3, Smith 2, Ford 1, Honda 1, Barney 1.

Fouled out -- None.

Technicals -- None.