OCC women win, men fall at RCC

The Orange Coast College women’s basketball team earned a 66-59

Orange Empire Conference victory over host Riverside Wednesday, while

the host Tigers won the men’s matchup, 79-69.

Sophomore guard Liz Mendoza led the OCC women (23-4, 8-1 in

conference) with 21 points and nine rebounds, while freshman teammate

Lindsay Galasso had 16 points, including four three-pointers.

Riverside (14-11, 5-4) led, 31-29, at halftime, but shot just 29%

(9 of 31) in the final 20 minutes.

The Pirates connected on half of their 24 field-goal attempts

after intermission.

Sophomore point guard Nancy Hatsushi chipped in nine points for

the winners, who received seven points from freshman forward Alisa

Carrillo.

Ashley Haggerty led three Tigers in double figures with 20 points,

followed by Tamara Thomas (14) and Samantha Thomas (13).

OCC’s men (16-11, 4-5) trailed only 34-33 at the half, but

Riverside hit 15 of 23 second-half field-goal tries (65.2%) to take

control and improve to 14-13, 6-3.

Sophomore Jason Garey and freshman Brian Bobik had 12 points

apiece to lead five Pirates in double figures. Freshmen Aaron Bobik

and Alfonso James, as well as sophomore Lanier Brown, each

contributed 10 points for the visitors.

Michael Strawberry and Aaron Lesane had 17 apiece to lead five

Tigers in double figures. J.R. Reece and Mohamed Camara had 14

apiece, while Jamal Nichols added 11 for RCC.