WHITTIER, Calif. - Occidental College shot 64 percent from the field and scored 44 points from inside the paint as the Tigers defeated the Whittier College women's basketball team, 78-63, Saturday night at the Graham Athletic Center.

The Poets (15-8, 7-5 SCIAC) were outrebounded 39-26 for the game which includes the 17 offensive rebounds they allowed Occidental to corral.

The purple and gold led 13-6 with 14:42 to play in the first half but the Tigers went on a 21-point run which proved to be the difference. The Poets trailed 47-26 at the break.

Kourtney Zilbert led the way for the Poets offensively as she scored a team-high 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting. She grabbed five rebounds and had a game-high seven steals.

Tina Merlino and Brittany Sabala each scored in double figures as they finished the game with 17 and 13 points each, respectively.

Occidental stretched its lead to 26 points, 54-28, with 17:33 left in the game. The Poets went on a 27-13 run over the next seven minutes to cut the lead to 12 points at 67-55 but that would be as close as WC would get.

Occidental saw four players reach double figures led by Asha Jordan who scored a game-high 21 points. Brianne Brown scored 16 points and added six assists and six steals in the win.

Whittier remains in fourth place in the conference as they lead Claremont-Mudd-Scripps by one game. The Poets will face C-M-S in the regular season finale on Saturday, February 21.

The purple and gold's next game is on Thursday, February 19, as they face Pomona-Pitzer in Claremont, Calif., at 7:30 p.m.