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.
