Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

LA VERNE, Calif. – The Whittier College women's basketball team saw themselves hold a slight 32-31 halftime lead Saturday afternoon over the University of La Verne but couldn't hold on as they would be outscored by 13 in the second half en route to a 74-62 loss to the Leopards.

Whittier now drops to 5-6, 1-2 SCIAC, while La Verne improves to 5-8, 2-2 SCIAC.   

The Poets had no answer late for Tiffany Hicks who supplied a near triple double off the bench as she accounted for 14 of the 48 bench points for the Leos.

The Purple & Gold put the Leopards into an early hole scoring the first nine points of the game from five different players capitalizing off of four turnovers in ULV' first eight possessions, while giving Leopard star center Emily Myers a quick two fouls.

The Leopards fought back however to pull within one 23-22 but the Poets would extend the lead back to six with just over a minute to go thanks to lay-ups by Ana Youngblood (Berkeley, Calif.) and Kaylah Alexander (Altoona, PA).

Erika Rivera would then knock down an ensuing three pointer and would put in a jumper at the buzzer for La Verne that pulled the Leos within one at the break.

In the second, it was all La Verne as Myers would score the first nine points leading the 16-4 run that gave them an 11-point lead, which they wouldn't relinquish.  Priscilla Rodriguez (East Los Angeles, Calif.) momentarily stemmed the tide for the Poets with a lay-up midway through but ULV would put together a pile of small runs eventually taking a 74-48 lead with three minutes to play.

In the final two minutes the Poets managed to put together 14 straight points to close the gap but it wouldn't be enough as they would fall by twelve.

Carly Buechler (Denver, CO) led the offense with 10 points going 3-of-7 from the field.  She was joined by all four other starters (Krishauna Leftridge (Washington D.C.) Youngblood, Kamila Auls (Long Beach, Calif.), and Rodriguez) who each added eight points apiece. 

Hicks led ULV with 14 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists, while Rivera tossed in 16 points and 10 rebounds. 

Whittier remains on the road this Wednesday, January 14 as they travel to Claremont-M-S who sit at No. 1 in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) standings at 5-0 with game time set for 7:30pm.