LA VERNE — Makenzie Brandon (Seattle) scored 17 of her team-high 23 points in the second half, helping the Occidental College women's basketball team hold off the University of La Verne 69-62 at the Frantz Athletic Court on Saturday.

Brittni Walker (Castaic), who finished the game with 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Tigers (9-2, 2-0 SCIAC), led Oxy to a 12-point halftime lead and the Tigers led by as many as 15 before the Leopards (2-9, 0-2 SCIAC) second half push brought the game within three with under 10 minutes to play. Then Brandon went off, scoring 15 points in the last 7 minutes to give Oxy its second Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win of the season.

Oxy picks up its first true road win in its first real road game — The Tigers won a pair of neutral site games just before the New Year at Chapman.

"It's good any time you go on the road and get a win," Brandon said. "It's going to be hard any time you go on the road and for us especially with a target on our backs as the defending SCIAC champions. We just have to come out and bring it for 40 minutes."

La Verne threw a few wrinkles at Oxy that Brandon said contributed to the slow start in the second half. Once the Tigers got comfortable with the Leopards 2-3 zone, they were able to keep a solid cushion and hang on for the win.

"It took us time to adjust to the zone that they were playing," Brandon said. "I think lots of teams are going to zone us to take away the isolations that we often get. It took us some time to adjust to that zone, but we eventually got there."

Katelyn Rowe (Carlsbad) had 16 points and five rebounds for the Tigers. Tyne McClure led La Verne and the game with 25 points.

Neither team's bench was particularly productive offensively, but La Verne managed just one point from their reserves. Oxy's Annika Awbrey (Saratoga) had five points and four rebounds in a solid effort off of the bench for Oxy.

The Tigers are back in action on Tuesday night at Chapman University at 7:30 p.m. in a non-conference game — Chapman is a member of the SCIAC, but wins and losses against league teams will not factor into the SCIAC standings until the 2012-13 season.