LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Feb. 28, 2008) –
Déjà vu brought the Regals and Tigers back together
on Thursday night at Rush Gymnasium after the teams met just six
days ago. Tonight, the difference was that there is a lot more at
stake now. After wrapping up their first Southern California
Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship in 28 years,
Occidental took one step further in their quest to represent the
SCIAC in the 2008 NCAA post season.
Oxy, the top seeded team, defeated California
Lutheran University, the # 4 seed, 69-47 before a large crowd
tonight.
Occidental never trailed, jumping out to a
15-2 lead, taking as much as a 17 point advantage in the first
half. Transfer stand-out Brianne Brown bounced
back from an ankle injury getting the Tigers on the board first,
turning in a 4-for-4 performance from the free-throw line in the
opening stanza.
Senior guard Stacie Roshon
surpassed the 1,500 point plateau, finishing the night with a game
leading 24 points. Sixteen of those points came in the first half
on 4-for-7 shooting from long range.
In the second half, the Regals chipped away,
pulling within four and cut the deficit even further to 48-45 with
8:14 to play in regulation. Roshon sparked a run of
four-consecutive three-pointers. Back-to-back Regals'
turnovers coupled with a block by Asha Jordan left
Oxy with scoring chances that they capitalized on.
Britinee Yasukochi hit a long
three on a feed from Roshon before Laura Mohler
hit back-to-back three pointers on passes from Samantha
Rossi putting Oxy up 62-45 with 5:24 to play.
Oxy's offense shot 44 percent from the
field overall, hitting on 22-of-50 shots in the game, posting a
44.4 three-point field goal percentage.
The Occidental defense held the Regals
scoreless for over seven minutes until Katelyn Harrison scored the
final CLU basket of the night with 44 seconds remaining. CLU shot
just 28.3 percent from the field in the game, making just 15-of-53
shots.
Cal Lutheran held the rebounding advantage
35-31, grabbing 14 offensive boards while the Tigers managed to
pull down just six.
Roshon was one board shy of a double-double,
and was credited with three assists and a steal as well. Brown
reached double-figures with 12 points, adding six steals in just 20
minutes of action. Mohler finished with 10 points in the game and
led all players with eight assists.
Mary Placido capped off her collegiate career
with a team high 13 points and eight rebounds for CLU. Nita
Sims, Maggie Neville and Harrison each
added eight points in the game for the Regals.
Occidental improves to 21-5 while the Regals
season ends at 13-12, 8-7.
In the other semi-final game of the night the
University of La Verne (19-7) defeated the University of Redlands
(17-9) 65-60 after being up 36-27 at the break.
Oxy will host the SCIAC Championship game on
Saturday evening against the Leopards with tip-off scheduled for
5:00 p.m.
