LOS ANGELES, Calif.
(Jan. 22, 2009) – Entering the night the Tigers and Poets
boasted identical 11-4 overall records and were among four teams
tied atop the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic
Conference with 3-1 marks. Tonight the Tigers moved into a two-way
tie with La Verne (who defeated Redlands 50-42) with a 68-46
victory over Whittier at Rush Gymnasium.
Occidental opened
with a 14-1 run and cruised to a 37-15 halftime lead behind an
11-point, seven rebound first half from sophomore Stephanie
Babij and a 10
point, five assist, four steal first half from Dior
Williams who
finished with a game-high 21 points on 8-for-10 shooting and eight
steals.
The Tigers shot 55.2%
from the field and limited the Poets to just a 5-for-21 shooting
performances (23.8%) in the opening stanza to take control of the
game. In the second half Oxy shot 43.5% to finish the game an even
50% from the field overall. From the charity stripe the Tigers
combined to go 8-for-8 in the second half, 11-for-13 in the
game.
Brianne Brown came to life in the second half with 11
points as she finished with 17, adding three assists, three blocks
and four boards. Babij was shut down offensively in the second
half, but pulled down three rebounds for a
double-double.
Wittier made things
interesting in the second half, using a 14-0 run to cut the deficit
to 11 points at 39-28 with 15:59 to play in regulation. Occidental
quickly dismissed the idea of the Poets getting any closer and
opened up a 20 point lead on a pair of back-to-back breakaway
layups from Williams. At the 9:22 minute mark Williams sank a pair
of free-throws to give Oxy their largest lead of the night at 27
points.
Occidental scored 32
points in the paint and got 20 points from the bench. Each team
scored 21 points off turnovers.
The Poets had no
players reach double figures. Tina Merlino led the way with nine
while Ashley Vierra and Emily Belvado scored eight apiece. Merlino
and Kourtney Zilbert each pulled down five rebounds, three of
Zilbert's were offensive.
Overall the Tigers
push their record to 12-4, 4-1 SCIAC as Whittier falls to 11-5,
3-2.
Saturday evening the
Tigers will host the Beavers from Caltech at 5:00 p.m. before the
men's teams take the court at 7:30 p.m. in SCIAC
action.
