Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier College women's basketball team after narrowly missing the upset of Occidental College this past week held on for the five point victory over the Sagehens of Pomona-Pitzer behind a stellar performance from junior Alex Coon.

Whittier now improves to 5-11, 2-3 SCIAC, while Pomona-Pitzer now drops to 3-13, 1-4 SCIAC.

After jumping out to an early 21-11 lead in the first half behind a plethora of Poet scorers, Whittier then went on a 9-0 run to grab a 16 point lead late but saw it diminish as the Sagehens chipped back into the lead to get within eight heading into the break 29-21.

Coming out of intermission, the Sagehens scored five unanswered and got within three behind a three ball from Alexis Sones who finished with a game high 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting including going 4-of-9 from behind the three point line.

She was instrumental in the Sagehen comeback but it wasn't enough as Whittier continued to pound the ball inside, while at the same time shooting a remarkable 56% from the field.  Whittier managed to maintain their five point lead throughout the second half and saw Pomona-Pitzer get within three at the 7:37 mark but after a Keimi Lew three pointer and jumper along with free throws from Dannika Navales-Lugtu and Lew the Poets were able to secure the five point victory.

Coon finished with a team high 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting and grabbed four rebounds, while Keimi Lew finished with 10 points going 4-of-7 from the field.  Even though these were the only players to reach double figures the Poets still received contributions and scoring from 10 different players showing their depth they have this season.

Whittier looks to put this game behind them as they now prepare for a short turn around as they look towards taking on the Athena's of Claremont-M-S this Saturday, January 21 beginning at 5:00pm.  Claremont-M-S is in fourth place currently in the SCIAC standings with Whittier right on their heels in fifth, which means this game carries with it high importance.