Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier College Women's Basketball team opened up the 2016 Purple & Gold Poet Classic Tuesday evening inside of the Graham Athletic Center falling to UC Santa Cruz 69-56.

With the loss the poets have now lost five in a row and drop to 1-8, 1-0 SCIAC and have now lost two straight to the Banana Slugs of UCSC.

Whittier had a rough first half being outscored 40-24 despite having some great looks not go down.  Emily Underwood (Nicholasville, KY) led the attack with 12 of her game high 18 points.

Opening up the third quarter the Poets found their rhythm outscoring UCSC 19-14 with 10 straight points coming from freshman Cali Cubel (Oceanside, Calif.) on 3-of-5 shooting.  Emilee Dy (Chino Hills, Calif.) would add another three that capped off a 13-5 run that pulled Whittier within ten right before a 9-1 run in the final 2:41 that would keep WC within striking distance.

In the fourth, Whittier attempted to stay in the game putting together an 8-2 run that made the score 63-52 but down the stretch the buckets wouldn't fall as UC Santa Cruz would improve to 7-6 on the season. 

Cubel joined Underwood as the second Poet in double figures finishing with 14 points.  Dy added seven off the bench with six rebounds and three steals, while Priscilla Rodriguez (East Los Angeles, Calif.) chipped in with six.

Whittier played big inside the paint adding 24 points, while forcing 21 turnovers and capitalizing on them with 14 points.

Whittier returns for their second game during the Classic, tomorrow, Thursday, December 29 as they take on Whitworth University beginning at 2:00pm.