Whittier, CA- The Whittier College Women's Basketball Team lost their home opener in conference play to the University of La Verne Leopards in front of a loud fan base at the Graham Athletic Center.  The Poets were entering play on a 3-game winning streak but were unable to match-up to the quickness and hot-shooting of the Leopards. 

The beginning of the game was not what the Poets asked for, as they watched as the Leopards ran up and down the floor scoring at will and taking an early 25-8 lead.  The Poets were able to catch-up and get within ten but the Leopards then went on a scoring spurt of their own getting help from Junior Emily Carrillo who scored a double-double with 24 points and 10 boards and Tedra Clark who tossed in 10 points to go along with 3 boards. 

As the half came to a close, the Poets saw that they shot 9-34 (27%) from the field, while the Leopards shot an astounding 17-28 (61%) allowing them to take a 20 point lead into halftime 40-20. 

As the second half got underway, the Poets were rejuvenated both on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball forcing the Leopards to shoot 8-22 (36%) from the field, while they themselves shot 16-35 (46%) allowing themselves to catch up, get within nine, and finish off the second half outscoring their opponents 38-26 with help from Sophomore Kourtney Zilbert who tallied a double-double scoring 17 points and grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds (3 off./9 def.).  But the Leopards were persistent and wouldn't go down so easily fending off the Poets to win 66-58. 

Freshman teammate Brittany Aranda also chipped in with 11 points and 5 boards, while Keimi Lew came off the bench to toss in 9 points to go with 2 steals in 25 min. of action.

The Poets now run their record to 9-4 overall and 1-1 in conference play and enter into a showdown with the University of Redlands Bulldogs on Jan. 15 (Thursday) at the Graham Athletic Center with tip-off scheduled for 7:30pm.