LA VERNE, Calif. (Jan. 23, 2010) - An 11-0 run late in the first half changed the entire complexion of this hard fought SCIAC match up, as Oxy seized control away from La Verne, and held on to pick up a huge conference road win.  To that point the host Leopards had been able to match each Oxy score with one of their own, but after that run, it was the Tigers (5-1) who kept La Verne at bay for the rest of the game.  Coupled with a loss by Redlands (5-1) at the hands of Cal Lutheran (5-1), all three teams now sit atop the conference with identical records.

The Leopards and Tigers battled on both ends of the floor, with La Verne holding a slight edge as they were able to exploit any defensive mistake made by Oxy.  With the home squad up by five in the low scoring affair, they hit a cold spell that the black and orange were able to capitalize on.  Starting at the 8:57 mark, Oxy forged ahead by riding an eleven point rush from Stephanie Babij, Makenzie Brandon and Dior Williams, whose timely shooting helped Oxy take the lead.  La Verne settled down and retook the lead before Babij cut to the basket, finishing off a nice feed from Gillian Nugent, to give Oxy a 32-31 lead that they would take into the lockeroom.

The black and orange made the most of that one point cushion, never relinquishing the lead throughout the final twenty minutes of play, although La Verne made several runs, Oxy always was able to answer.  With a little under four minutes gone in the half, the Leopards cut the lead back to one, but Babij and Katelyn Rowe stymied the run with a quick three point splurge of their own.  Again with the lead cut to two, Brandon nailed a short corner jumper, and again the Leopards were turned away.  All half long Oxy would find just enough to quell any threats from the host squad, surviving with a 62-58 victory.

Statistically it was easy to see why they were able to control the game, as Oxy's shot selection resulted in a 47.2% shooting efficiency from the field.  La Verne kept it close, while only shooting 30.8% from the field, by shooting 8-26 from long distance compared to 3-10 for the Tigers.  Leading the way for the Leopards was Ashley Paul, who poured in a team high 19 points.  The now conference leading Tigers were led by Brandon's game high 20 and Babij's double double, with 16 points and 13 rebounds. 

Oxy (13-4, 5-1) now travels to the University of Redlands (13-4, 5-1) on Thursday, January 28^th in a conference showdown to stay in first place.  Cal Lutheran will (12-4, 5-1) will host Whittier (11-6, 4-2) that same night as the race for the conference regular season title could get even closer depending on Thursday nights outcomes.  Tip off for both games is at 7:30pm.