LA VERNE, Calif. - The
Whittier College women's basketball team led for all but 47 seconds
of the game as it avenged an earlier season loss to the University
of La Verne and handed the Leopards their first home loss of the
season, 74-71, Thursday evening.
The Poets (14-6, 6-3 SCIAC) held on as the Leopards' (15-4, 7-2
SCIAC) game-tying three-point attempt missed and went out-of-bounds
with three seconds left. La Verne retained possession but couldn't
manage to get another shot off.
Whittier saw its lead cut to as few as one-point three times in
the final four minutes of the game but that would prove to be as
close as the Leopards would get.
La Verne's Corinne Watkins missed the back end of a free throw
attempt with 4:06 to play in the game that would have tied the
score. Instead of knotting things up at 67 the Poets were able to
grab the rebound and turn the missed foul shot into a 69-66 lead.
The Leopards were again able to close the gap to one-point after
Kayleen Kaaiai connected on a pair of free throws but WC extended
its lead to two points, 72-70, after Kemi Lew hit
1-of-2 foul shots.
The final ULV chance to tie the score came with nine seconds
left as Emily Carrillo missed her second of two foul shots.
Kourtney Zilbert grabbed the rebound that clinched
the game for the Poets.
Zilbert led the Poets in scoring as she poured in 18 points on
8-of-12 shooting. She added five rebounds and three assists in the
win. Lew finished the game with 12 points while Brittany
Aranda and Tina Merlino scored 11 and 10
points each, respectively.
The Poets shot 57 percent from the field to the Leopards 48
percent. In addition WC outrebounded the Leopards, 31-27.
Whittier remains in the thick of the race for one of the four
Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoff
spots. The Poets share a 6-3 conference record with Redlands while
La Verene and Occidental both sit at 7-2 in the SCIAC.
The purple and gold return to action on Saturday, February 7, as
they travel to Redlands, Calif., to face the University of Redlands
in a pivotal SCIAC contest. The game is set for a 5:00 pm start.
Photo by: Tony Leon/Action West Photography
