Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier College women's basketball team continues to move forward as they wrapped up their non-conference schedule over the past two days defeating Salem State 76-55 before falling to La Sierra 90-71 during the Purple & Gold Poet Classic.

With the split the Poets move to .500 on the season at 4-4 with their Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) opener looming this Saturday, January 3 at home against Chapman University beginning at 5:00pm.

At the conclusion of the Classic two Poets found themselves on the All-Tournament Team including Erica Houston (Stockton, Calif.) and Priscilla Rodriguez (East Los Angeles, Calif.) who joined Sara Crane (UC Santa Cruz), Geena Giovannetti (UC Santa Cruz, Calif.), Rachael Carter (Salem State), and the Most Valuable Player (Tina Fantroy (La Sierra). 

Game 1 (Salem State – W, 75-41)

Dannika Navales-Lugtu (San Francisco, Calif.) led the Poets with 16 points and was joined by Houston who picked up her first double double on the season finishing with 13 points on 4-of-9 shooting to go with a career high 20 rebounds. 

All 16 players suited up saw playing time on the court with all 16 registering at least two points.  The Poets built a 24-point halftime lead sparked by Navales-Lugtu who went 3-for-4 from behind the arc.  Whittier led 44-20 at the break and held the Vikings to a mere 4-of-24 (16.7%) from the field, while forcing 16 turnovers.

Whittier continued where they left off in the second thanks to a big outpouring from their bench, which outscored Salem State 48-24, while producing 20 second chance points to just five for the Vikings.  The largest lead was 28 at 68-40 midway through the second half.         

Game 2 (La Sierra – L, 90-71)   

Leading by ten in the first half, the Poets couldn't hold off the Golden Eagles in the second as they stormed out in front by 20 before earning the 90-71 victory to wrap up the Classic.

The Poets had no answer for Tina Fantroy, the Classic MVP who poured in a career high 44 points on 12-of-22 shooting, while hauling in 10 boards, three assists, and two steals. 

Navales-Lugtu put the Poets in front early with back to back three pointers and was followed by Carly Buechler (Denver, CO) and Rodriguez with three balls of their own that moved the score to 12-3.  The Golden Eagles would tie things up at 17 midway through the half and would eventually put together a 9-1 that gave them a 26-20 lead before closing out the stanza with back to back to back three pointers that gave them a 46-39 lead at the break.

In the second Whittier fought to pull within two 66-64 thanks to a jumper and free throw from Kamila Auls (Long Beach, Calif.) but that's as close as the Purple & Gold would get as they would see Tina Fantroy score 12 unanswered that put the game out of reach.

Rodriguez finished with 20 points going 6-of-8 from three point territory.  Buechler had 14, Navales-Lugtu with 10 and Ana Youngblood with a team high 12 rebounds.