LOS ANGELES — The Occidental women's basketball team and its scrappy defense was on its way to its third win in a row.

But after a long game of struggling to get a rebound, Pomona-Pitzer's Amelia Hummel grabbed the offensive board that broke the Tigers' back and converted a put-back to give the Sagehens a 58-56 lead with 52 seconds left.

Oxy had a chance to tie or go ahead, but couldn't come up with a score, losing to Pomona-Pitzer in its first SCIAC contest of the year, 61-56 at Rush Gymnasium on Saturday.

The Tigers fall to 2-8 overall and 0-1 in SCIAC play. Pomona-Pitzer improves to 2-8 and 1-0.

Oxy forced 26 turnovers with its press and mix of zone defenses, but got outrebounded 41-26. Hummel's rebound was one of 16 that came at the Sagehens' offensive end. Basha Brulee-Wills led Pomona-Pitzer with 15 points and 14 rebounds, while McKenna VanderKley chipped in 12 points off of the bench and Alaina Woo added 10.

Ashton Reid led the Tigers with 15 points and three steals in 19 minutes. Tiffany Kho played another excellent game for Oxy at point guard, with 14 points, six assists and just one turnover.

The Tigers had 17 steals as a unit.

Oxy's best defensive stand was forcing a 10-second violation with a 56-55 lead and 1:23 left in the game. The extra possession allowed the Tigers to burn 20 seconds off of the clock.

Oxy led 30-29 at halftime and for most of the second half.

Next Game: The Tigers return to action against Chapman on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in Rush Gymnasium.