The MSJC women's basketball team easily moved into the 3C2A Southern California Regional Finals last week with an 84-54 win over Citrus, now the Eagles will face the defending state champion Orange Coast College Saturday night.
The Eagles, who are the #5 seed in the Region, will travel to Costa Mesa for a 7 pm game with the fourth seeded Pirates. OCC won the 3C2A State Championship in 2023, and this year once again won the Orange Empire Athletic Conference title and currently have a record of 26-3. Four players average double figures in scoring for the Pirates led by Bridgette McIntyre who comes into Saturday night's game averaging 18.8 points per game. She has connected on 102 three points shots through the Pirates first 29 games. Ashari Cassell averages 14.4 points per contest as well as 3.4 assists, while Sabrina Lopez and Jordan Arreola both check in at over 11.5. The OCC offense is averaging 81.9 points per game which is the second highest in the state. The Pirates defeated East Los Angeles 81-73 last week in the 2nd round of the Regional after receiving a bye in the opening round.
MSJC will begin Saturday's game with a record of 23-4, they were the co-champions of the Inland Empire Athletic Conference. The Eagles are led in scoring by 2024 IEAC Player of the Year Breyonna Bell, who averages 16.4 points per game as well as 3.1 assists and 3.3 steals. Jana Roman, a First Team All-IEAC selection averages a double double for MSJC as she scores 10.5 points per game and hauls in an impressive 11.9 rebounds. Valeria Brewer, another First Team All-IEAC pick also averages double figures in scoring for the Eagles at 11.9 per contest, Natalie Derla comes into the game at 8.6. The conference championship was the 6th straight for the Eagles program, who are making their 17th consecutive play-off appearance.
Tickets for Saturday's game need to be purchased on line are available here. If you are unable to make it to the game, it will be live streamed at the follwoing link. MSJC @ OCC Livestream