LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Feb. 11, 2010) - With first place on the line, neither team disappointed in this Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference heavyweight match up, between Cal Lutheran and Occidental.  Both teams entered the night with identical 9-1 conference records to go along 17-4 overall marks.  The back and forth game, came down to the last three minutes, as both teams sat tied at 51 apiece.   Then Dior Williams, ignited a 7-0 run that proved the difference, in the Tigers 60-55 victory.

The first half can best be described as a series of runs.  The black and orange jumped out to a quick 12-4 lead to start the game, but instead of a quick timeout by the Regals, they simply dug down deep and went on a run of their own to take the lead at 15-14.  Oxy responded again, jump started by a deep three by Gillian Nugent, before the freshmen took over.  As Katelyn Rowe scored four consecutive points, the first bucket coming on a nice feed from Nugent, as Rowe sealed her man who was fronting.  Makenzie Brandon followed that up, with an off balance jumper, to push the Tigers back up by eight.  But this Cal Lutheran team was not going away, again without a timeout, the team continued to attack after being hit with a flurry and cut the lead to one at 28-27.  A couple of traded baskets later and the Tigers went into halftime with a slim 30-29 lead.

A lead that was earned by sheer determination, as the taller opponents controlled the glass with a 21-14 rebounding edge, enabling the Regals to take eight more attempts from the field.  Oxy, though, shot 48.0% overall in the half and controlled the tempo even as they faced the only team in the conference who pressures the entire length of the floor, while mixing in some run and jump principles.

The second half was much different, as Oxy never led by more than five points, but also fell behind once and saw the score knotted up three different times.  Cal Lutheran stayed in the game relying on their depth, as both Erica Whitley and Starla Wright accounted for double digits, as the Tiger defense did a solid job of containing the visitors first five.  Brandon came up big for the Tigers, with a game high 16 points, but as the over 400 in attendance could tell, this game was going to be decided in the final moments.

With the score tied at 51, Williams, who had sat at the beginning of the half with three fouls, came alive.  Cal Lutheran had done an excellent job of neutralizing Stephanie Babij all night, who had a pair of 30 point games in the now 10 game winning streak the Tigers are riding, so Babij had become a facilitator.  This time after a high post entry, she found Williams on the wing, who without any hesitation, rose up and drained a three pointer. 

The score stayed at 54-51 for over a minute, but then the Tigers called a quick timeout after regaining possession with only 70 seconds remaining, setting up a play to find Williams along the baseline.  She drove hard and was rewarded with two freethrows, sinking both, to extend the lead even further.  Britinee Yasukochi put the game away, after a frustrating night that saw her sitting next to Williams on the bench as both were in foul trouble, with two more freethrows. Yasukochi also dished out a game high six assists.

Cal Lutheran (17-5, 9-2) did not give up, forcing two turnovers and converting one to cut the lead back to three, but time ran out on this comeback effort.  The Regals were led by Brianna Parker, who scored 14 points and pulled down a game high seven boards.

Oxy also had a big scoring lift from the Nugent, who finished with 11 points, which included three triples.  The Tigers now move to 18-4 overall and 10-1 in conference play.  The win also puts them in control of their own destiny, as two more wins clinches at least a share of the SCIAC regular season title and three wins would give them an outright championship and home court in the very important post season tournament.

But their is still a lot of basketball to be played, as the black and orange will not set their sights on the Caltech Beavers, who they will face on the road this Saturday, February 13^th, at 5pm.

Article by:  Mike Talamantes, Sports Information Assistant