Irvine Valley's women's basketball team earned its 22nd win of the season and stayed up in the top of the Orange Empire Conference standings with a 55-43 victory over Orange Coast on Thursday night at home in Hart Gymnasium.
The Lasers improved their record to 22-4 overall and 8-2 in the OEC.
OCC entered the game No. 3 in the latest RPI ratings with Irvine Valley at the No. 4 spot.
And it was a battle throughout the contest.
Irvine Valley won the game with defense.
IVC limited Orange Coast to just 23.6 percent (13 of 55) shooting from the field as a team.
The Lasers turned OCC over 17 times.
Irvine Valley led, 5-4, after the first quarter, and 16-13, at the half.
The fourth quarter was the difference for IVC.
Irvine Valley ran out to a lead in the fourth period and led by as many as 14 points late in the game.
The Lasers were led by sophomore forward Kivonni Williams, who scored 14 points and added three rebounds.
But she was even better on the defensive end, picking up OCC's top scorers.
Sophomore wing Alexis Price was also a force on defense, contributing 11 rebounds and three blocks. She added four points and five assists for the squad.
And sophomore guard Symantha Barnett seven points, four rebounds, three assists and two blocks for IVC.
Orange Coast was paced by Melaiah Jackson with nine points, three rebounds and one assist.
And Sydney Sloan contributed 13 rebounds for the Pirates.
The Lasers play in a conference game at Santa Ana next Wednesday at 7 p.m.
