Whittier defense stymies Sagehens in win

Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. - The Whittier College women's basketball team continued its Saturday success as it picked up its fifth straight Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win on the weekend with a 69-57 win over Pomona-Pitzer.

The Poets (13-8, 6-4 SCIAC) got a career-night from Ashante Reid who scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds with five steals and three assists off the bench. She was 6-of-12 from the field which includes 1-for-1 from three-point range.

Whittier's defense pressured the Sagehens into 33 turnovers and converted that into 29 points.

Morgan Sabala paced the effort with a game-high six steals while Kourtney Zilbert joined Reid with five takeaways. As a team the purple and gold totaled 22 steals.

Tina Merlino, who entered the game as the SCIAC's leader in field goal percentage, continued her hot hand with 18 points on 9-of-10 shooting. She pulled down six rebounds and handed out three assists.

As a unit the Poets shot over 53 percent from the floor and had 24 assists on 31 made buckets. Sabala had a game-high 10 assists to go along with her seven points.

WC held the advantage in the paint with a 44-24 lead in points inside and a 33-26 edge on the glass.

The Poets held a six-point lead at the 13 minute mark of the second half and used a 19-7 run to put Pomona away. The spark gave Whittier a 62-44 lead with 5:40 to play and the Poets held on for the 12-point win.

The first half saw four lead changes and three ties but the Poets were able to go into halftime with a 31-25 lead.

Whittier returns to action Thursday, February 11, as it travels to take on La Verne at 7:30 pm.