WHITTIER, Calif. (Feb. 21, 2008) – A 54-51 victory at the
Graham Athletics Center extended the Occidental win streak to ten
as they captured the first Southern California Intercollegiate
Athletic Conference Title in 28 years, improving to 20-5 overall
with a 12-2 SCIAC mark.
It was not easy for the Tigers tonight as the
score was knotted four times and there was never more than a six
point gap.
The freshman-senior duo of Stephanie
Babij and Stacie Roshon led the way for
Oxy tonight with 13 points apiece, while Babij recorded her third
double-double of the season, pulling down 10 rebounds as Roshon
grabbed nine. Each was 5-for-6 from the line.
Everyone contributed tonight. All nine players
who stepped on the court for Oxy scored at least two points and had
a pair of rebounds or more.
“Tonight was a total team effort,”
said Associate Head Coach Avi Meyerson. “We were competing
out there on every possession as Whittier has a powerful front
line.”
The Tigers shot just 30.4 percent from the
field, but got the job done. Playing with a broken finger, Babij
shot 4-for-5 from the field for the Tigers and
Roshon hit two shots from long range in the game.
Britinee Yasukochi dished out
a game high five assists, adding nine points and one of the two Oxy
steals of the game.
The Oxy defense held the Poets to a 26.1
overall shooting percentage and held WC scoreless from three-point
range in the second half (0-for-8).
Occidental pulled down 50 rebounds while
Whittier finished with 44, including 21 offensive. Brittany
Mally got the start in place of junior transfer
Brianne Brown making her presence felt with eight
rebounds and five points.
Over the last decade the Tigers have steadily
improved, finishing a disappointing 0-12 in SCIAC action during the
2000-01 campaign. Since 1997 they never won more than 16 games in a
season (06-07) and have twice won nine SCIAC games (05-06 and
06-07). During Head Coach Jaime Hoffman's tenure Oxy has
continued to develop from year to year and now it is showing.
The last time the Tigers were atop the SCIAC
was 1980 when they went 10-0 and posted a 12-5 overall record. Oxy
capped a three-peat in '80 after winning the title in 1979
(12-7, 9-1 SCIAC) and tying with Pomona-Pitzer in 1978 (12-7, 9-2
SCIAC) for a share of the crown.
Oxy holds the top spot and will thus host
California Lutheran University, who defeated the University of
Redlands (76-71), on Thursday, Feb. 28 at 7:30 p.m. in the first
game of the first ever SCIAC Post Season Tournament.
The other SCIAC Tournament game will take
place between Redlands and the University of La Verne, who defeated
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 64-59 tonight, at ULV. The two winners will
move on to play for the Tournament Championship on Saturday, March
1. Date and time are yet to be determined.
