LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Feb. 7, 2009) –
Occidental got an early spark from Brianne Brown
who scored 20 first-half points helping to give the Tigers a 51-26
lead at the break en route to an 89-61 victory in Southern
California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action tonight
against the visiting Sagehens from Pomona-Pitzer.
Brown scored seven of the first nine points
for Oxy as she finished 8-for-9 from the field including 4-for-4
from three-point range in the opening stanza. Gillian
Nugent sank one of her four three's with 2:25 to
play in the opening period to give Occidental its largest lead of
the half at 29 points.
The offense, which shot a combined 50% from
the field, continued in the second half as every Tiger got on the
court with 12 different players scoring at least one point. Oxy was
accurate from beyond the arc tonight 53.8% of the time, making 14
baskets from long range. Brown finished with five, Nugent with four
and Gabriela Hirsh-Gonsalez and Asha
Jordan were each 1-for-1.
Brown led all players with 25 points while
Nugent supplied 14 and Dior Williams chipped in
with 10, adding a game high six assists. Nugent dished out five.
Defensively the Tigers were solid as they have
been all season long. Brittany Mally was credited
with three blocks, two on one series. The Tigers forced 25
Hens' turnovers, leading to 25 points. They also held a
slight rebounding edge with 41 to Pomona-Pitzer's 38.
Madeline Rose finished with a team high eight
while Jordan and Natalie Kolodinski grabbed six
boards apiece. Kolodinski's came in just 10 minutes of action
as she also supplied five points, an assist and a pair of steals.
Overall the Tigers claimed 17 steals with
Nugent leading the way with four. Brown and Williams each had three
in the game as well.
Each team pulled down 18 offensive boards,
leading to 22 and 25 points for the Hens and Tigers, respectively.
Zoe Walsh had three rebounds, all offensive, and
Jordan had three on the offensive end as well.
One area the Tigers did struggle on tonight
was at the charity stripe, going just 5-for-13.
The Sagehens were paced by Anjanette
Huges-Stinson and Diedre Chew who finished with 18 points apiece.
Katherine Wise led all players in the game with 12 rebounds.
The win pushes the Tigers' record to
16-5 overall, 8-2 in SCIAC play to remain tied atop the conference
standings with La verne who defeated Caltech tonight. Pomona-Pitzer
falls to 6-14, 2-8.
Next up for Occidental will be the
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas who come into town on Thursday, Feb.
12. Teams will tip-off at 7:30 p.m. in Rush Gymnasium.
