Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier women's lacrosse team scored seven unanswered goals over a 20-minute period in the second half as it came from behind to beat Pomona-Pitzer, 16-11, on Saturday morning at Memorial Stadium.

The Sagehens (0-1, 0-1 SCIAC) led 10-8 with 25:11 remaining in the game but the Poets took control starting with a Shaina Denny goal at the 23:53 mark.

Carolyn Mukai evened the score at 10-10 just two minutes later and on the ensuing possession Amiya Moretta gave Whittier an 11-10 lead it would not relinquish.

Denny scored the eventual game-winner at 15:48 on an assist from Dana Barraco and Denny, Raquel Damti, Mukai and Moretta rounded out the scoring run to put the Poets ahead 15-10.

Pomona-Pitzer ended the run at 2:36 but Denny tacked on the game's last goal with the 33 seconds left on a free-position. Whittier won the following draw control and ran out the remainder of the clock.

Denny finished with a game-high six points on four goals and two assists while Mukai added three goals and two assists. Three of Denny's goals came via free-position.

As a team, Whittier was 5-of-10 on FPS while holding the Sagehens to a 2-of-7 effort. Conny Joel was the backbone of the defensive effort in the second half as she made six saves in picking up her first win of the season.

Whittier (1-1, 1-1 SCIAC) outshot Pomona-Pitzer 39-27 which includes a 21-10 advantage in the second 30 minutes. The Poets also had 29 ground balls to the Sagehens' 21 and 17-of-29 draw controls.

Mukai led the way with a team-high four draw controls and tied Barraco and Damti with five ground balls apiece.

Amy Cirbo had three caused turnovers in the win.

The Saghens used a 4-0 run to end the first half and take an 8-6 lead into the intermission but Whittier outscored them 10-3 in the second stanza.

The Poets return to action on Thursday, March 10, as they host Emerson at 7 pm.