Gonzalez' Driving Layin Lifts Riverside to 57-56 Home Win Over Irvine Valley Wednesday

RIVERSIDE -- Britney Gonzalez' driving layin with 6.8 seconds to play lifted the Riverside City College (RCC) Tigers women's basketball team to a 57-56 Orange Empire Conference home win over the visiting Irvine Valley College Lasers Wednesday night at historic Arthur N. Wheelock Gymnasium.

The stage was set for Gonzalez' heroics when Irvine Valley missed a pair of free throws with 15.6 seconds left and nursing a 56-55 lead. Up stepped Gonzalez, a frosh guard from Jurupa Hills H.S., who drove to the hoop and was fouled. She finished with 17 points.

Riverside (17-11, 7-5 OEC) was paced by sophomore guard Jordan Lofton (Riverside / M.L. King, Jr. HS), who had a game-high 21 points. Frosh forward Paradise Hanchett (Moreno Valley / Rancho Verde HS) had a game-high 14 rebounds for RCC.

The night also featured the pre-game honoring of RCC's sophomores: Lofton, Jessica Reed, Vyvy Tran, Kylie Stevenson and Deja Hill.

Frosh forward Kasey Smit (Tesoro HS) had a team-high 17 points for Irvine Valley (20-7, 8-3 OEC).

The game was the regular season finale for RCC as it has a bye on Friday, Feb. 19. Irvine Valley will play at Santa Ana on Friday.

The annual OEC coaches meeting which will feature the selection of the All-OEC teams will take place on Saturday, Feb. 20, at Santa Ana College. On Sunday, Feb. 21, the annual seeding meeting for the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) South Regional Playoffs will take place.

-30-