PASADENA, Calif. (Nov. 22, 2008) – Heading over to Caltech for day two of the Tip Off Classic would give the Occidental women's basketball squad their first road game of the season against a well coached squad from UC Santa Cruz. The Tigers picked up right where they left off 24 hours earlier, sprinting out to a 22-6 lead to open the game, never looking back as they went on claim a 58-38 victory.

The Banana Slugs would offer some different match up problems for the Tigers, as they had several post players who were bigger physically, but team defense especially help side rotation, allowing Occidental to neutralize any advantage UC Santa Cruz might have tried to exploit. 

The hot start was fueled at first by the Tigers' slashing to the basket, started by sophomore guard Stephanie Babij's layup less then 30 seconds into the game, followed by another couple of drives inside resulting in trips to the freethrow line or another easy two points. Once the Banana Slugs clogged up the middle, Occidental continued to extend the lead with a pair of three pointers by junior guard Gillian Nugent and senior guard Brianne Brown. Junior guard Dior Williams extended the lead from there, knocking down two shots and picking off three passes, the last steal leading to a layup by Brown on an assist from junior guard Britinee Yasukochi that cemented the Tigers' 22-6 lead with eight minutes left to play.

Occidental was once again led by a very balanced scoring attack. Tonight the hot hand was Williams who scored16 points to go along with eight steals. Nugent also reached double digits in scoring (13 points ) and was solid from behind the arc, drilling three of five attempts. To round out the double digit scoring was Brown who had 10 points to go along with six rebounds. Not to be overlooked was sophomore forward Madeline Rose who had a game high seven boards.  

UC Santa Cruz (1-2) did not go away easily, but that flurry to start the game was too much for the Slugs to overcome. The game high scorer Kayleigh Calandri (18 points) attempted to will her back in to contention, although they were never able to really threaten the Tigers the rest of the game. UCSC did move the ball well, though, with eight of their eleven baskets coming off assists. On the other hand, the Tigers were able to force 31 turnovers and a plus eight rebounding margin spelled out a 58-38 victory.

The Tigers (2-0) will be back in action on Tuesday, Nov. 25 at 7:00pm as they host Westmont College (4-0) at Rush Gymnasium.