Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier College women's basketball team got underway with their second round of Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference games and dropped a 66-61 decision to the Sagehens of Pomona-Pitzer Thursday evening.

Whittier who dropped an earlier season match-up to the Sagehens 54-48 back on January 3 were unable to bounce back from being down 19 despite outscoring the Sagehens 39-33 in the second half. 

The Poets jumped out in front early 5-2 but saw the Sagehens answer with a 6-0 run.  After two free throws from Monica Salazar that pulled the Purple & Gold within one at 8-7, the Blue and Orange extended their lead to 18-10 at the 9:52 mark.

For nearly seven minutes midway through the first half the Poets were held to a mere 10 points, until Salazar knocked down a three pointer with seven minutes to play to stop the PP run.      

Despite a 4-0 run to close out the first half thanks to Casceal Swaggard it would not be enough for the Poets to overcome the eleven point halftime deficit 33-22.

Coming out of intermission, Whittier's leading scorer Alex Coon was forced to sit early with four fouls allowing Pomona to tally eight unanswered in the paint extending their lead to 41-22. 

But Whittier wouldn't go away quietly as they rattled off their own 8-2 run that covered four minutes pulling them within 14 with 13:20 to play.

Pomona continued to keep a double digit lead late in the second but Whittier managed to chip back into the lead thanks to strong shooting from the charity stripe and an and one basket from Coon that pulled the Poets within nine at the 6:23 mark.

But the Poets didn't stop there as Coon came down two possessions later and knocked down a straight on three that cut the deficit to six with 4:51 to play.  The Purple & Gold continued to add a suffocating press and a pressure defense that kept the Pomona offense at a standstill, while they continued to connect on the offensive end in large part to Swaggard who put in a layin and a free throw that pulled the Poets within five. 

Down the stretch in the final 3:22, Whittier tried to put together a run sparked by a Coon putback and a three point play from Dannika Navales-Lugtu the old fashioned way, but the Sagehens managed to keep the Poet offense at bay despite a three point play by Coon and a layin by Swaggard in the final 30 seconds that allowed them to earn a 66-61 victory. 

After a five point first half, Coon answered in the second adding eleven points for a game high 16 points, while Swaggard and Salazar added 11 and 10 points apiece off the bench.  Swaggard also grabbed a game high 11 rebounds posting her first double double of the season. 

For Pomona-Pitzer, four players reached double figures led by Alice Timken who finished with 14 points on 4-5 shooting, while Maria Weyhrauch tossed in 12 points and eight boards.  Off the bench, Juliah Shay Kim and Jenn Okonkwo tossed in with 11 points apiece. 

Whittier returns to action as they travel into Los Angeles when they take on the Tigers of Occidental College on Saturday, January 19 with tipoff set for 5:00pm.