The Irvine Valley women's basketball team spoiled a sophomore night and earned one of its biggest victories of the season.
A win that could move the Lasers up in the So. Cal. regional playoff seedings.
Irvine Valley won at Fullerton, 51-47, Wednesday in an Orange Empire Conference game on the road.
It moved IVC into basically a tie with Santa Ana for third place in the OEC.
Irvine Valley improved its record to 15-12 overall and 7-4 in conference. Fullerton dropped to 18-9 overall and 6-5 in conference.
Fullerton went up, 9-2, right off the bat on a Erin Choi layup.
But the Lasers bounced back and took a 10-9 lead.
It was close the rest of the way.
The two teams were tied 12-12 at the end of the first quarter.
And the battle continued.
Tied 23-23 with three minutes left in the first half, IVC freshman forward Alexis Price hit a three-pointer, and FC's Xochitl Hood answered with a jumper.
Irvine Valley still held a 28-25 lead at the break.
IVC welcomed the third quarter with a made jumper by sophomore point guard Haruka Mikuma for a 30-25 lead, but the Hornets soon tied the game up at 30 apiece on a pair of free throws by Hood.
Neither team was willing to back down for the remainder of the game.
With two minutes left in regulation, Irvine Valley snuck in a six-point lead (47-41). FC fought back and Hood tied the game up 47-47 with 49 seconds to go.
Irvine Valley took the lead for good when freshman guard Samantha Barnett knocked down a shot in the paint.
Irvine Valley's defense was impressive, holding the Hornets to just 26.2 percent (16 of 61).
A big stat for IVC was the team knocking down 7 of 16 three-point attempts.
Sophomore guard Moka Saiki knocked down five of those treys on 10 attempts. She led the Lasers with 18 points. She added six rebounds and three assists.
Price had 10 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks, Mikuma contributed 11 points, three assists and three steals and Barnett had seven points and five steals for IVC.
Hood led Fullerton with a game-high 19 points and 13 rebounds.
Irvine Valley plays its final game of the regular season on Friday against one of the top teams in the state, Orange Coast, at 5 p.m. as part of a doubleheader with the IVC men's squad
