Box Score By Michael Wells
Sports Information Director
CLAREMONT — The Occidental College women's basketball team used suffocating defense to build a comfortable lead and cruised from there, beating Pomona-Pitzer 56-30 in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action at Voelkel Gymnasium on Thursday.
The Tigers (11-2, 3-0 SCIAC) kept Pomona-Pitzer (2-12, 0-3 SCIAC) off of the scoreboard for nearly the first 7 minutes of the game and gave up just 12 points in the entire first half, tying the lowest amount the Tigers have allowed in one half this season — Oxy kept Caltech to 12 points in the second half of a 83-27 win on Jan. 5. It wasn't until Vanessa Ho (San Francisco) hit the second of a pair of free throws with 12:58 to play in the first that Pomona-Pitzer finally logged its first point. Oxy turned Pomona-Pitzer over four times and held the Sagehens to 1 for 7 from the field during the scoreless stretch.
Oxy's defense, currently ranked first in the SCIAC in points allowed per game (53.2) and 58th nationally, forced three shot clock violations and limited the Sagehens to just 18 percent shooting from the field.
"We talked about being very aggressive and that's our goal," Occidental coach Heidi VanDerveer said. "It was good to see people get up and get in a stance. We were disruptive without fouling."
The Tigers forced 21 turnovers, leading to easy offensive opportunities at the other end.
"When we can be disruptive we can get out in transition and it helps our offensive rhythm," VanDerveer said. "Our defense starts our offense."
Playing in her first game after missing the last five with an ankle injury, Elizabeth Messick (Reno, NV) scored all 10 of her points in her first 10 minutes played.
"It feels really good to be able to contribute. It's really hard to sit on the bench and not help aside from cheering," Messick said. "It felt good to play well."
Aside from Messick's strong performance and usual from SCIAC leading scorer Makenzie Brandon (Seattle) — 12 points — Oxy had its own offensive slumps, particularly in the first half from the 3-point line. The Tigers shot just 17 percent from beyond the arc and 38 from the field.
In the second half, Oxy warmed up from the perimeter.
Crystal Goodwin (Inglewood), Drew Van Vleck (Ashland, OR) and Liz Little (Littleton, CO) each hit 3-pointers. Goodwin finished the game with eight points and Little had seven.
All 15 Oxy players played in the game.
The Tigers continue conference action on Saturday against Whittier College at 5 p.m. at Rush Gymnasium.
