Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

LOS ANGELES – The Whittier women's basketball team shot a mere 27 percent and was outscored 46-19 in the second half as Occidental locked up a SCIAC postseason tournament berth with a 76-41 win over the Poets at Rush Gymnasium on Thursday night.

Whittier (12-11, 6-6 SCIAC) will have its work cut out for itself as it currently sits in sixth place with two games left on the schedule. The Poets' remaining schedule features La Verne and Cal Lutheran, both of which are 7-5 in the conference.

The top four teams in the conference advance to the postseason tournament.

The Tigers doubled up the Poets in made buckets. Occidental was 30-of-59 from the field while the Poets were just 15-of-55. The 51 percent effort from the floor was coupled with a 45-33 advantage on rebounds and an 18-8 advantage on points off turnovers by the Tigers.

Kourtney Zilbert led the Poets with 13 points and eight rebounds. She was the lone Poets to reach double figures.

Occidental had four players finish with Stephanie Babij scoring a game-high 16 points.

The Poets will look to keep its playoffs hopes alive on Saturday evening as it hosts La Verne at 5 pm.