Box Score By Michael Wells
Sports Information Director
WHITTIER — Katelyn Rowe (Carlsbad) and Makenzie Brandon (Seattle) combined for 34 points, and the Occidental College women's basketball team shook off a slow first half with a better second, beating Whittier College 64-60 at the Graham Athletic Center on Saturday.
The win means Oxy needs just one more victory to clinch a fifth consecutive SCIAC regular season title and that the Tigers will definitely host one of two SCIAC semi final playoff games on Feb. 23 as the No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the tournament.
Oxy trailed 29-24 at the break, but opened the second half on an 8-0 run led by Rowe, who had four points, a steal and a rebound during the stretch.
Brandon finished with 20 points, her SCIAC-best 11th game with at least that many points in a game this season. Rowe had 14.
Facing mostly a 2-3 zone, the Tigers shot 29 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes. In the second, they found gaps in the zone, had better ball movement and found buckets in transition off of Whittier's turnovers.
"I felt like we got good shots in the first half we just didn't make them," said Occidental head coach Heidi VanDerveer, who notched her third 20-win season in four years at Oxy. "Then we had an 8-minute period towards the end (of the first half) where we were kind of out of rhythm. When we came out in the second half we knew exactly what we needed to do."
The Tigers (20-3, 11-1 SCIAC) forced the Poets (7-15, 4-7 SCIAC) into 11 turnovers after halftime, allowing them to score before the Whittier zone was set.
"Our offense came from our defense," VanDerveer said.
The Tigers bench picked up in the second half too. Liz Little (Littleton, Colo.) scored all of her nine points and Crystal Goodwin (Inglewood), who finished with 10 point, hit two of her three 3-pointers.
Oxy could never quite pull away from the Whittier (7-15, 4-7 SCIAC) though, instead trading baskets with the Poets.
Even when Whittier was fouling late to extend the game they seemed to end up with loose balls and open shots. Oxy led 64-57 with a minute left and the scrappy poets managed three free throws and a 3-pointer to close the game on a 6-1 run.
"You know when you play Whittier that you're gong to get their best shot," VanDerveer said. "Every night in the SCIAC is a different challenge."
Stephanie Scamman (Northridge) chipped in six points and six assists for the Tigers.
Dannika Navales-Lught led thee Poets in double figures — Tanisha White had 14 and Alex Coon scored 12.
Oxy is riding its longest winning streak of the season, seven games. The Tigers have won six games in a row three different times this year with Saturday's win the first time they surpassed that mark.
Oxy can clinch at least a share of the SCIAC regular season championship with a win over Cal Lutheran on Thursday night at Rush Gymnasium. Tip is 7:30 p.m.
