Photo by: Stephanie Banyi

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The Whittier College women's basketball team attempted to act as spoilers Thursday night attempting to knock out Cal Lutheran from post season contention but was unable to pull off the victory on the Regals Play 4 Kay night falling 85-68.

With the win Cal Lutheran snapped a two game losing skid, while keeping them in the hunt for a SCIAC post season bid. 

Whittier got out of the gates quickly taking a 17-16 lead at the 9:27 mark thanks to a 7-0 run sparked by a three pointer from Tiffany Thompson (Oakland, Calif.) and a jumper from Nicole Ruffino (Las Vegas, NV).  But CLU would outscore the Purple & Gold 17-4 over the next five minutes helping them take a 41-32 advantage into halftime.

The Poets would however cut the lead to nine just before the half as Erica Houston (Stockton, Calif.) corralled an offensive rebound and laid it in with five seconds left.

The lead would get smaller out of the break as the Poets would capitalize on the Regals shooting 2-10 from the field.  WC cut the lead to six following a Carly Buechler (Greenwood Village, CO) lay in and a steal and made free throw from Danielle Quinones (Marin County, Calif.) which moved the score to 49-43 with 13:52 to play.

But the Regals cracked down on the defensive end forcing nine turnovers on Whittier's next 13 possessions while rebuilding their lead to 20 at 74-54.

Dannika Navales-Lugtu (San Francisco, Calif.) led the Poets offensive attack with 15 points on 5-8 shooting, while Buechler and Danielle Hays (San Diego, Calif.) chipped in with 13 and 11 points, each respectively.

For Cal Lutheran, Haley Hodgson finished with a game high 23 points on 11-15 shooting, while Chelsea Jacoby tossed in 18 points to go with eight boards, four assists, and two steals.  Then off the bench Jessica Salottolo added 10 points on 4-5 shooting. 

Whittier returns to action tomorrow, Saturday, February 22 when they take part in their final game of the season during PAC the GAC as they host Caltech beginning at 7:00pm.