Pirates go into lion's den, escape with OT win at Cypress

CYPRESS -- It was another "Game of the Year" between Orange Coast College and Cypress College on Wednesday night, as the Pirates overcame a rowdy crowd and a talented Chargers' squad to pull off a 77-73 overtime win to widen their lead in the Orange Empire Conference standings.

Separated by just one game in the OEC standings, the state's third-ranked Pirates (24-1, 8-1 in the OEC) pulled off the comeback win against their respected rival Chargers (18-7, 6-3) to extend their first-place gap to two games with just three games left to play. Coast will play at Golden West on Friday before wrapping up the regular season at home against Santa Ana on Tuesday and Riverside on Thursday. All games will begin at 5 p.m.

Meghan McIntyre continued to show why she's one of the best all-around players in the state with a near-triple-double performance against the 15th-ranked team in the state, scoring 22 points (8-of-17 from the floor, 3-of-5 from 3-point range) with 12 rebounds, five assists and three steals. Annie Trinh equalled McIntyre's scoring with 22 points, including forcing overtime with two made free throws in the final second of regulation. Savannah Seiler had one of her best games of the year with 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

For the Chargers Ashley Hawkins led the way with 23 points (10-of-27 from the floor), seven rebounds and four assists, while Jasmine Uy and Thao Truong each added 14 points.

Cypress took advantage of the "black out" atmosphere early on and carried a 15-9 lead after the first quarter of play, holding the Pirates to just 4-of-15 from the floor through the first 10 minutes. The Cypress lead doubled to 12 at 28-16 with 5:21 left in the first half before Coast settled down and starting making some shots, using an 11-0 run to get back to within a point at 28-27. That one-point lead remained for the Chargers as both teams ran off the floor to end the first half, 32-31.

Coast saw the deficit widen to five after three quarters before rallying in the fourth. Down 49-44, OCC used a 10-4 run to grab a 54-53 lead with 6:32 remaining, thanks to made 3-pointers by McIntyre and Karina Cabrera.

Hawkins and the Chargers regained their lead and pushed it to four (63-59) with just over 2 minutes remaining before Trinh countered with a big 3-pointer of her own to pull OCC to within a point at 63-62.

With 12 seconds remaining, Cypress guard Alexia Alvarez made 1-of-2 from the free-throw line to give Cypress a 64-62 advantage and with OCC struggling on a set play in the final seconds, the Pirates called timeout with 3 seconds remaining.

Trinh passed the ball in, but the ball was deflected back to the OCC sophomore guard, who heaved a 3-point attempt just inside the half-court stripe. The shot missed, but Cypress was called for a foul on Trinh with 0.7 seconds left, sending her to the free-throw line with a chance to win the game for OCC.

After beating the Chargers last year with a last-second jumper, Trinh made the first free-throw, but missed the second attempt. With the Cypress-heavy crowd screaming at her to miss, she calmly stepped up and buried the third free throw, tying the game and forcing overtime.

Cypress grabbed an early lead in the OT, but Trinh stepped up again in clutch time, hitting two free throws and burying a 3-pointer to give OCC a 70-68 advantage.

The Chargers tied things at 71 with 1:44 remaining before McIntyre went to work, nailing her third 3-pointer of the game with 1:28 remaining to push OCC ahead, 74-71.

Hawkins nailed a pair of free throws to make it 74-73, but with 20 seconds remaining, McIntyre went 1-on-1 with the Cypress' best player and drove uncontested for a one-handed layup to put OCC up, 76-73.

Coast stopped the Chargers on their next possession and clutch made free throw by McIntyre pushed the lead to four with just six seconds left. One final 3-point heave by the Chargers with missed and the Pirates pulled off the incredible win.

Release by Tony Altobelli, OCC SID