Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The Whittier women's basketball team lost its third straight game on Tuesday night as its season official ended with an 89-46 loss to Cal Lutheran at Gilbert Arena.

The Regals (14-11, 8-6 SCIAC) needed the win and some help to secure the fourth and final conference playoff spot but by virtue of La Verne's one-point overtime win over Redlands they were eliminated.

Once again, Whittier (12-13, 6-8 SCIAC) struggled from the field, shooting just 31 percent and being held scoreless through the first five minutes of the game.

Alex Bassett made the Poets' first bucket at the 14:34 mark to end a 10-0 run by Cal Lutheran. Marissa Bruce cut the lead to 13-4 with 14 minutes remaining but the Regals answered with a layup by Shana Moore and never led by less than double digits again.

The Moore layup came after five consecutive offensive rebounds by the Regals.

Whittier never got rolling offensively and their problems from the field were highlighted by a four minute scoring drought that saw CLU's lead go from 24-11 to 35-11.

The Poets scored seven straight following the 11-0 run but Cal Lutheran finished the half on a 9-0 run of its own to take a 47-18 lead into the intermission.

CLU started the second stanza outscoring Whittier 15-6 and continued to add to its lead.

The Regals finished the game shooting 46 percent and made 10 3-pointers.

Cal Lutheran turned Whittier's 19 turnovers into 25 points and held a 49-32 advantage on the glass.

Amanda Apgar led the Poets in scoring with nine points while Alex Coon finished with eight.

Kourtney Zilbert, who played in her final game as a Poet, scored seven points with eight rebounds. Fellow seniors Tina Merlino and Essence Scott each scored two points.