Canyons Defeats Host Team To Win Orange Coast College Tournament Championship

COSTA MESA, Calif. - The host Orange Coast College Pirates couldn't overcome a poor shooting performance as they lost to College of the Canyons 57-53 in the championship game of the 2012 Erin Tomlinson Coast Christmas Classic.

The loss didn't come from a lack of effort, however, as the Pirates (5-5) attempted 71 shots in the game, converting just 17. The only place the Pirates did shoot well was the free-throw line where they hit 17-of-23 attempts from the charity stripe.

That wasn't enough, however, as the Cougars (8-4) were able to hold off the Pirates late rally.

After establishing a 10-point lead at the half, Canyons held on to that double-digit lead from most of the second half. It wasn't until the final seven minutes that the Pirates truly started to threaten the Cougars lead. After cutting the lead to seven with 7:10 remaining, Coast used four-straight offensive rebounds minutes later to get within two with 1:23 remaining. Canyons answered with a quick lay-up to go back up by four with 1:05 left in the game. The Pirates would only get as close as three points for the remainder of the game as the fell to the Cougars 57-53.

Canyons' Dalisa Chapman was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player after scoring 15 points and grabbing eight rebounds.