COLLEGE ROUNDUP:Ford leads Pirates to victory over Saddleback

MISSION VIEJO — Courtney Ford hit a game-tying three-pointer at the regulation buzzer, and the Orange Coast College women’s basketball team hung on to beat Saddleback, 70-65, in overtime in an Orange Empire Conference thriller Wednesday at Saddleback.

Ford, a 5-foot-7 freshman guard showed why she was recently named the state’s Player of the Month, by the Commission on Athletics. She scored 29 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for the Pirates (27-3, 13-0 in conference). She hit another three-pointer in overtime for OCC (27-3, 13-0 in conference). Robin Smith had four of her seven points in the extra session.

Ford led OCC to a 9-0 record in January and powered the Pirates to become the highest scoring team in the state.

Brittany Taylor had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Pirates, who came back from an 11-point halftime deficit, and Rachael Maulit had nine points and seven steals.

Rekeshia Jones had 19 points, 14 rebounds, six assists and five blocks for Saddleback (21-8, 8-5).

Orange Empire ConferenceOrange Coast -- Ford 29, Taylor 14, Maulit 9, Smith 7, Calcagno 4, Hundley 3, Schmidt 2, Barney 2.

Orange Coast 70,

Saddleback 65 (OT)

3-pt. goals -- Ford 3, Hundley 1, Smith 1.

Fouled out -- None.

Technicals -- Team.

Saddleback -- Jones 19, Moore 16, Price 11, Klockgether 9, Mason 9, Paopao 1.

3-pt. goals -- Price 1, Klockgether 1, Mason 1.

Fouled out -- None.

Technicals -- None.

Halftime -- 33-22, Saddleback.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Saddleback 58, Orange Coast 56MISSION VIEJO — The Pirates fought their way back after trailing by eight points at halftime, but they missed their last three shots in the finals 10 seconds to drop the Orange Empire Conference game Wednesday night.

Miguel Gonzalez led OCC (14-15, 5-6 in conference) with 17 points, including making four of eight three-pointers. Saddleback College (22-7, 9-2) trailed the Pirates, 49-48, with 9:18 remaining, but regained the lead.

Orange Empire Conference

Saddleback College 58,

Orange Coast College 56

Score by Quarters

Orange Coast -- Gonzalez 17, Wise 7, Cornett 7, Nwabuzor 6, Poitevin 6, Delgado 3, Saldivar 3, Engle 3, Caetano 3, Molina 1.

3-pt. goals -- Gonzalez 4, Poitevin 2, Caetano 1, Saldivar 1.

Fouled out -- None.

Saddleback -- Ford 21, Richie 11, James 8, Myles 7, Morgan 7, Malone 3, Richardson 1.

3-pt. goals -- Myles.

Fouled out -- Ford.

Technicals -- Myles, team.

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

UC Irvine def. UC Santa CruzIRVINE — Senior Matt Webber led No. 3 UCI with 13 kills in the ‘Eaters’ 30-22, 30-23, 30-23 sweep on Wednesday at Crawford Court in a nonconference match.

Webber added three aces for UCI (13-3), and senior outside hitter Jayson Jablonsky had 10 kills and a .588 hitting percentage.

Setter Ryan Ammerman had a career-high 30 assists for the Anteaters, and middle blocker Aaron Harrell hit .714 on five kills in a match UCI never trailed.

Austin Einhorn had a match-high 15 kills for UC Santa Cruz (9-4).

SOFTBALL

Vanguard 9, Occidental 0Vanguard 12, Occidental 0COSTA MESA — Freshman Melissa Forrester earned her first collegiate win in the opener and Jen Olvera went three for four with a home run in the nightcap for the Lions in their nonconference doubleheader Wednesday.

Jennifer Bergh also went three for four with four RBIs, two runs scored and a double, while Sarah Howe was three for three with four runs and an RBI in the second game. Bergh and Rachel Bomgren went two for three in the first game.

Forrester had a two-hit shuout with seven strikeouts in the first five-inning game. Kelly Boyer allowed three hits, while striking out six in her win that came in five innings for Vanguard (7-2). Occidental dropped to 0-6.

NonconferenceVanguard 9, Occidental 0

Score by Innings

Occidental 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 2 3

Vanguard 8 1 0 0 x - 9 11 0

Moriguchi and Escalante; Forrester and Ocasio. W -- Forrester, 1-1. L -- Moriguchi, 0-3. 2B -- Brabant (O), Bomgren (V).

NonconferenceVanguard 12, Occidental 0

Score by Innings

Occidental 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 3 3

Vanguard 4 4 2 2 x - 12 18 1

Brabant and Crowell; Boyer and Rynda. W -- Boyer, 2-0. L -- Brabant, 0-3. 2B -- Bergh (V). 3B -- Howe (V). HR -- Olvera (V).

BASEBALL

Concordia 10, Vanguard 7IRVINE — Luke Iverson went three for three with a run scored for the Lions, who lost their Golden State Athletic Conference game Wednesday.

Tyson Leighton, Derek Craddock and Matt Voorhies hit home runs for Vanguard (1-2, 1-2 in conference). Matt Ross, who was three for five with an RBI, led Concordia (7-0, 3-0).

Golden State Athletic Conference

Concordia 10, Vanguard 7

Score by Innings

Vanguard 3 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 - 7 11 2

Concordia 1 4 0 1 2 0 2 0 x - 10 14 1

Vaughn, Carls (6), Craddock (8) and Smith, Hastings; Boyett, Bondo (2), Goforth (3), Hester (6), Torrey (6), Cobb (8), Soto (9) and Rasson. W -- Goforth, 2-0. L -- Vaughn, 0-1. Sv -- Soto (1). 2B -- Freeman (V), Robertson (C), Ross (C), Bird (C), Kawal (C), Dean (C). HR -- Leighton (V), Craddock (V), Voorhies (V).