Gauchos surge past Pirates in OEC home-opener

The Saddleback women's basketball team had a big second half in winning its first conference game of the season over Orange Coast College, 71-62, on Wednesday nigh at the Saddleback Gymnasium.  Myishia Watkins scored a game-high 22 points as the Gauchos erupted for 44 points in the final 20 minutes.

Watkins (pictured) had a huge second half, scoring 17 of her 22 points in the final frame.  In addition, Watkins had eight assists in the second half, finishing with a game-high of nine.  She finished 8-of-17 from the field for the night as Saddleback (10-9, 1-1) shot a blazing 57% in the second half of play.

Orange Coast (9-9, 0-2) was led by Dayanara Armenta, who finished with 16 points for the night.  Armenta was 7-of-19 from the field, but just 1-of-9 from three-point range as the Pirates went cold from the outside.

The 71 points by Saddleback equaled a team-high for the year.    

The Gauchos will play again next Wednesday when they host Cypress College.  Tip time is set for 5:30 PM.