Thornton gets win No. 300, his Pirates shoot for title today

Orange Coast College women’s basketball coach Mike Thornton was

treated to his 300th victory as head coach of the Pirates’ program in

a 78-67 win over Southwestern Saturday to advance to today’s

championship game of the 12th annual Galasso’s Bakery Coast Christmas

Classic at 4 p.m.

Thornton must have thought the win might have to wait for another

day after the Pirates hit just 26.8% (11 of 41) in the first half, en

route to a 32-32 stalemate.

Sophomore point guard Nancy Hatsushi hit 3 of 5 from beyond the

arc in the first 20 minutes, two of them coming in the final moments

as Coast pulled even.

The Pirates (11-3) started slowly in the second half, as well, but

they began to find their shooting touch after a few tense minutes.

Down, 43-42, the Bucs knocked out an 8-0 run to go up 50-43, and they

would not relinquish the lead thereafter.

The lead grew to double digits over the next few minutes and

remained there for the majority of the half.

As they did Friday night in a relatively easy win over Chaffey,

the Pirates got excellent balance on offense.

Five Bucs tallied in double figures, led by forward Liz Mendoza

with 14 points, to go along with eight rebounds.

Alisa Carrillo tossed in 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

Hatsushi poured in 11 points, had five assists and four steals,

while Amy Shaw and Kirsten Von Tungeln each added 10 points. Von

Tungeln led the late charge on the boards for the Pirates, pulling

down nine of her team-high and season-best 13 rebounds in the second

half.

Thornton reaches the 300-victory milestone with a winning

percentage of .680 (300-141) and is well on his way to an 11th 20-win

season in his 14-year tenure with the Pirates.