THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY

Fullerton played Orange Coast College in the Hornets Nest Monday night and let it get away in the fourth 60-52.

The Hornets have had a tough time of it lately dropping their 4th straight Orange Empire Conference game. The loss knocks FC to 10-14 overall and 3-6 in the OEC, while the Orange Coast win bumps them to 15-7 overall and keeps the team in 3rd place in the OEC at 4-2. Prior to Monday night, Fullerton had been on the road for 6 consecutive games winning two of those contests.

It was a close game from the start with both teams hitting their shots in the first quarter. Fullerton finished out the quarter with a 14-13 edge. The second quarter was an offensive struggle, as both team equaled one another with 6 points each. 

The third quarter began like the first as the Hornets and Pirates matched shots, until OCC broke free at the 4:20 mark. The Pirates hit a 3-pointer by Anne Trinh and added a layup by Karina Cabrera putting the team up 31-25. With a just over a minute left in the quarter, Fullerton proved that it was not going away tying the game up 33-33 on Celise Moreno's 3-pointer. Carbrera knocked down another three putting the Pirates up 36-33, but Shanise Ho hit back with a three of her own with one second left in the third to tie the game at 36 apiece. The game began to slip away from Fullerton by 5:04 in the fourth quarter due to another 3-pointer by Trinh that handed OCC 49-44 lead. One more three by Alexis Legan gave Orange Coast its largest lead of 8 (52-44) at 3:55. The Hornets hustled to get back in it, but a couple of costly turnovers settled the game as time wound down.

Janelle Ramos has been on fire the last six games scoring a total of 100 points. Tonight she led all scorers with 22 points, added 9 rebounds, and had 6 blocks (all is the first half). Shanise Ho scored 9 points, and Celise Moreno put up 7. 

Up Next: The Hornet (10-14 overall, 3-6 OEC) schedule does not get any easier this week as FC will host No. 7 Irvine Valley College (19-2 overall, 8-0 OEC) this Wednesday, February 9th at 7:00 pm.