Kourtney Zilbert '11 posted her sixth double-double of the
season as Whittier College stunned the University of La Verne with
a 64-59 win in the Graham Athletics Center on February 14.
The win allows the Poets to remain tied with Cal Lutheran for
fourth place in the SCIAC with a 6-5 conference record. The
top four teams move on to the SCIAC Tournament for a chance at an
NCAA Tournament birth.
The story of the game was the Poet defense, which held the SCIAC's
#2 scoring offense to just 59 points. La Verne (15-7, 8-3) is
averaging 70 points per game as a team. The Leopards lead the
conference in shooting percentage, but were held to just 32%
shooting in the game. Whittier also shut down the
conference's leading scorer, Marissa Raya, holding her to just
seven points, eleven below her season average.
Zilbert led the Poets with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Rosario
Rios-Aguilar '08 also recorded a double-double with ten points and
14 rebounds. Ashley Vierra '10 came off the bench and was
credited with a game-high five assists. Christa Rainville '08
had two blocked shots and Morgan Sabala '11 had a pair of steals to
lead the defense.
Trenecca Jones scored 13 points and grabbed seven boards to lead La
Verne. Ashley Paul and Lindsey Shiomi each scored eleven
points. Shiomi hit three shots from long range and handed out
five assists.
The Leopards held the largest lead of the first half, an
eight-point advantage (12-4) midway through the opening
frame. The Poets came back to tie the score at 22 leading
into the break. The Poets held a slight rebounding edge
(24-19) in the first half and forced ten first half
turnovers. Neither team shot particularly well, with La Verne
at 33% and Whittier at 27%.
La Verne scored the first six points of the second half to take a
28-22 lead in the first two minutes. The Poets came within
one point several times in the half, but didn't even things until
the 7:34 mark. La Verne held a 57-53 edge with 5:12 when the Poets
made their run. Vierra hit a jumper on the next Poet
possession that ignited a 9-0 run in the ensuing four
minutes. Sabala hit a three-pointer with 4:15 to give
Whittier a one-point lead (58-57) and they would not trail
again. The La Verne scoring drought ended with four seconds
left, but it was too little, too late. Rainville hit a pair
of free throws to give Whittier the 64-59 victory.
The Poets are in action again on February 16 when they face-off
with conference-leading University of Redlands. The game is
scheduled to tip-off from the Graham Athletics Center at 5:00pm.
