Orange Coast is team vortex

The 2007-08 Orange Coast College women’s basketball team personifies the transition game.

Coach Mike Thornton’s Pirates, who had eight freshmen in a 10-player rotation that produced a 28-4 record, including a 14-0 mark in the Orange Empire Conference last season, will, once again, feature a fast-paced style revolving around a pressure defense that extends the length of the floor.

But there is another meaning to the term this season, as well. As with most community college programs, the two-year revolving door saw a pair of guards, including first-team all-conference guard Robin Smith, exhaust their eligibility and move on.

But two players with eligibility remaining have also left, taking with them virtually all of the team’s inside presence.

Lindsay Allen, a 6-foot-1 post who averaged 6.7 points and 4.8 rebounds last season, is no longer playing basketball, Thornton said.

Christina Calcagno, a 6-0 post who produced 3.4 points and 4.9 rebounds last season, has transferred to Cuesta, in large part to be closer to her Northern California home, Thornton said.

The result is a cast of guards and forwards who will try to intercept the ball before it enters the painted area surrounding the basket it is defending.

“We’re centerless,” said Thornton, entering his 19th year at the helm. “It almost seems like we’ll have five guards out there at the same time. We’ll have to make it a full-court game, because we can’t let people set up, because we’re not strong, or big inside. We have to turn people over [increasing the number of possessions by reducing the time opponents have the ball].”

To that end, Thornton will unleash an even more intensive defensive pressure than the scheme that helped the Pirates defeat conference foes by an average margin of 21.2 points per game last season.

“Defensively, I think we’ll be a lot better than we were,” Thornton said.

Sophomore Rachael Maulit, a 5-5 guard, will lead the defense.

“She’s the best defensive guard I’ve ever had, off the ball and on the ball,” Thornton said of Maulit, who averaged 4.4 steals to go with 4.9 points last season.

Sophomore Courtney Ford, the reigning Orange Empire Conference Player of the Year, will also be a catalyst at both ends of the floor.

The 5-7 guard bound for Mercer University, who was the fourth Pirate ever recognized first-team all-state, averaged 20.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.5 steals and 2.9 assists as a freshman.

Sometimes maligned for a lack of quickness and fluidity, all Ford does is beat you, with an instinctive, tenacious brand of basketball that both teammates and fans seem to enjoy.

“She’s someone who was not recruited nearly like she should have been, because people say she’s too slow,” Thornton said of Ford. “But she can really play.”

Ford and Maulit also spearhead a crop of sophomores who have impressed Thornton with their leadership.

“We have seven sophomores, six of whom were in our 10-player rotation last year, who have been unbelievable leaders in practice,” Thornton said. “Courtney and Rachael are two of the most competitive people I’ve ever had.”

Additional experience and talent should be provided by 5-10 forward Brittany Taylor (8.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game last season), 5-5 sophomore Katie Kissee (7.4 ppg as a freshman), 5-9 guard Erin Barney (5.9 ppg), and 5-10 forward Sarah Schmidt (2.4 ppg), Thornton said.

Taylor will be out until late November with a sprained ankle, Thornton said.

Freshmen Simone Ibbotson, a 5-9 forward, 5-9 guard Casey Gomez, 6-1 forward Natasha Cargill, and 5-3 guard Niki Wakamiya are also expected to contribute, according to their coach.

“Ibbotson had an up-and-down senior year at Edison High last year, after having surgery on a torn ACL as a junior,” Thornton said. “But she’s a very athletic player who can run the floor and she fits into our defensive pressure [scheme].”

Thornton said Gomez, a product of University High, fits into a corps of sharpshooters that include Ford (49 three-pointers last season) Kissee (41), Barney (28), Taylor and Schmidt.

“If we avoid injuries, I think we could be a pretty good team at the end of the season, if we develop and play hard,” Thornton said.

A beefed-up schedule and the aforementioned dearth of inside presence, however, will make it difficult to match last year’s record, Thornton said.

“We were almost injury- and illness-free last year, plus we’ve upgraded the schedule,” said Thornton, whose team was upset by San Bernardino Valley in the second round of the Southern California Regional playoffs last season.

The Pirates open the regular season tonight at 7 against visiting Palomar. They open conference play Jan. 9 at Irvine Valley.

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at barry.faulkner@latimes.com.