Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – The Whittier College Women's Basketball team wrapped up their two game road trip Thursday as they fell 63-52 to UC Santa Cruz at Kaiser Permanente Arena.

For the second straight game the first quarter was a shootout, with a combined 34 points being scored as UCSC held an 18-16 advantage after Whittier closed out the frame with a 4-0 spurt. 

The second quarter was tight in the early stages and the deficit remained three at the 5:24 mark following a pair of free throws from Carly Buechler (Greenwood Village, CO) but over the final 5:00 minutes, the Banana Slugs would increase their lead to nine at the break after a 10-4 run.

The Purple & Gold found their offense again in the third quarter adding 12 points but still couldn't cut into the UCSC lead.  Then in the fourth, Santa Cruz increased their lead to 12 with an opening triple.  The Poets fought back to finish the quarter deadlocked in points at 16-16 but it wouldn't be enough to erase the double digit lead held by the Banana Slugs.

Daniza Rodriguez (San Jose, Calif.) had her breakout game of her career as she finished with 16 points on 6-of-16 shooting in 28 minutes of action.  She was the lone Poet in double figures as freshman Cali Cubel (Oceanside, Calif.) was next with eight along with two assists and three steals.

Emily Underwood (Nicholasville, KY) added six points, had five boards, three assists, and three steals, while Emilee Dy (Chino Hills, Calif.) came off the bench to play 19 minutes finishing 3-of-6 from the field for six points.

For the game, Whittier outshot UCSC 35% to 34% but was outrebounded 44-36, while shooting a season low 15.4% from behind the arc.        

Whittier enters the Holiday break 1-7, 1-0 SCIAC and return Monday to begin preparations for a big week, which includes three games in five days.  Whittier begins with UC Santa Cruz on Tuesday, December 27 beginning at 7:00pm before completing the Purple & Gold Poet Classic on Thursday, December 29 against Whitworth University (2:00pm).  They then get back into Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play on Saturday, December 31 as they host Claremont-M-S beginning at 5:00pm.