OCC rested, ready

The Orange Coast College women’s basketball team got the two things it most wanted out of its first-round Southern California regional playoff game on Feb. 24.

First, Coach Mike Thornton’s Pirates earned a 56-51 victory over Long Beach City. Secondly, but perhaps equally as important, the Pirates earned a week off before tonight’s second-round home date with Imperial Valley (24-9). Tipoff is at 7.

OCC (28-5), which has achieved the second best victory total in the program’s 29 seasons ? only the state championship team of 2002-03 earned more with a 31-6 mark ? battled fatigue as the regular season wound down. The Pirates are the No. 3 seed in Southern California.

Thornton’s team, which lost point guard Laurie Denning to a season-ending knee injury in December, has experienced other physical ailments.

Most notably, sophomore forward Jillian Ricks, diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in late December, has lost nearly 30 pounds due to the illness that affects the digestive tract. Ricks can only play about four or five minutes at a time in games, before requiring brief rest periods, Thornton said.

Ricks, a 6-foot-1 transfer from Weber State who along with sophomore teammates Crystal McCormick and Madison Parks are first-team All-Orange Empire Conference selections, averages 12.9 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.

Parks, a 6-3 center, averages 9.8 points and 10.1 rebounds, while McCormick, a 5-6 guard, averages 11.8 points and 3.2 rebounds. McCormick also leads the team with 79 three-pointers.

Parks and Ricks have signed with UC San Diego.

No. 11-seeded Imperial Valley, which upset No. 6 Ventura, 83-70, in the first round Feb. 25 at Ventura, is led by 5-6 sophomore guard Ivy Smith. Smith averages 28.9 points, 9.8 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game.

Imperial Valley has also relied upon 5-4 sophomore guard Whitney Williams (13.5 ppg), 5-10 sophomore forward Sophia Perez (11.2 ppg) and 6-0 freshman center Alexis Johnson (10.5 ppg).

The two teams have 10 common opponents this season. Both teams have losses to Compton, Riverside and Cypress. OCC split its two games with Riverside and Cypress.

Tonight’s winner will advance to the eight-team state championships, which begin Thursday at Selland Arena in Fresno.dpt-occwomen04.IMGGraphicInfoC61OK87P20060304C61OK87PNo Captiondpt.04-ricks-CPhotoInfoE91OJR8F20060304itfe96ncMARK DUSTIN / DAILY PILOT(LA)Orange Coast College sophomore Jillian Ricks, left, is the leading scorer for the Pirates, who face Imperial Valley College in a regional playoff game tonight.