Pirates nearly score 100

COSTA MESA — The Orange Coast College women’s basketball team is making a habit of flirting with the century mark.

For the second time in three games the Pirates came up a three-pointer short.

OCC had no trouble defending home court in its first round game of the Coast Christmas Classic with a 97-45 rout over San Diego Mesa.

“Sometimes it’s hard playing in the first game of a tournament, but mentally we were right with it from the beginning,” OCC Coach Mike Thornton said.

The Pirates (11-2) made it clear from the start who the better team was and went on a 9-0 run to prove it.

After freshman Brittany Taylor finished a fast break to open the scoring, sophomore Devin Hundley hit the first of her seven three-point field goals in the game to put OCC up 5-0. Hundley finished with a game-high 27 points, hitting 10 of 13 from the field.

“She’s been streaky but has improved a lot from last year,” Thornton said. “Devin played real well tonight.”

Hundley’s hot shooting mixed with the Pirates’ stifling defense made for a long night for San Diego Mesa.

The Olympians finally got on the board 3:30 into the game, but OCC’s leading scorer Courtney Ford, who scored 14 points, struck right back and drained a three from the corner to extend the lead to 12-2.

After another 9-0 run, the Pirates were comfortably ahead by 16 points.

With the clock ticking down in the first half, Katie Kissee’s three-pointer with six seconds left made it 44-19 at halftime.

OCC’s defense was so dominant in the first half, it only allowed San Diego Mesa to make 8 of 35 shots, 22.9%.

The Pirates’ offense on the other hand hit 50% of their shots in the first period.

Hundley continued her accurate shooting from long range, hitting back-to-back shots from beyond the arc during a 12-4 run to open the second half that put OCC ahead 56-23.

With 8:33 remaining in the game, San Diego Mesa’s frustration became evident when Robin Smith was fouled by an Olympian player then pushed by another. After a technical foul was called, Smith made all four of her free throws, making the score 77-34.

“We could have scored a lot more,” Thornton said. “I thought their team was getting really frustrated.”

Lee Wang closed out the scoring for the Pirates with two shots from the charity stripe.

Not wanting to get embarrassed any more, San Diego Mesa ran out the last 22 seconds of the game to ensure the Pirates wouldn’t have the chance to put up 100 points on them.

With the win OCC advances to play College of the Canyons today at 7 p.m., where it will get the chance to avenge one of its only two losses this season. It is a semifinal of the eight-team tournament. The championship is Wednesday at 7 p.m.

“We really wanted to play Canyons because they had beaten us earlier in the year,” Thornton said.

Coast Christmas Classic

Orange Coast College97,

San Diego Mesa 45

SDM -- Mendoza 8, Carter 7, Griffin 6, Edwards 5, Ash 5, Shepard 4, Miller 4, Berg 2, Cabrera 2, Clark 2.

3-pt. goals -- None.

Fouled out -- None.

Technicals -- Byrd.

OCC -- Hundley 27, Ford 14, Barney, 9, Taylor 7, Smith 6, Calcagno 6, Schmidt 6, Maulit 5, Kissee 5, Wang 5, Allen 4, Honda 3.

3-pt. goals -- Hundley 7, Barney 2, Taylor 1, Ford 1, Kissee 1, Wang 1.

Fouled out -- None.

Technicals -- None.

Halftime 44-19