SANTA ANA – The Dons pushed first-place Irvine Valley College all the way to the final minute before falling 73-53 to the visiting Lasers. The loss drops the Dons to 7-14 overall and 1-4 in conference while Irvine Valley improves to 18-3 overall and 5-0 in conference.

The Dons controlled the first five minutes of the game as they jumped out to a 6-1 lead before the Lasers battled back to tie the game at 6-6. Irvine Valley would break the tie and continue to lead for the next six minutes.

But the Dons would come back with back-to-back three pointers by Celia Duran to reclaim the lead at 22-21. During that stretch, Duran went 4-for-5 from three-point range. The teams would trade the lead for the next several minutes before the Lasers ultimately took a 37-35 lead into the half.

Irvine Valley continued to lead throughout the second half, but couldn't pull away farther than seven points for the first 15 minutes of the second half. The Dons were able to get as close as one point, but were unable to force a tie or reclaim the lead.

The Lasers eventually extended their lead to double digits at 66-56 with 3:45 left in the game. The Dons would get as close as six points but failed to get any closer as Irvine Valley went on to the 73-63 victory.

Kylie Rodriguez led the way for the Dons with 17 points and 10 rebounds while Duran finished with 12 points and Jocelyn Calvillo scored another 10 points. The Lasers were led by Breanna Turner with 22 points and 11 rebounds while Jordan Coleman scored 15 points and Conerie Brennan scored 13 points.