Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Head Coach Roy Dow made his return to Cal Lutheran University after his six years at the helm of the Regal program Saturday in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) showdown.

But the Whittier College Women's Basketball team couldn't come away with the road victory as they fell 70-55 inside of the Gilbert Arena.

The Regals jumped out to an early lead and never looked back.  The score was 23-12 at one point and then turned to 31-18 before CLU would go into the break leading 36-21.

The Purple & Gold found their offense in the second half putting up 18 in the third quarter and pulling within 11 at one point.  They outscored CLU up until the 1:26 mark in the third but a 7-1 run that closed out the frame would put the Regals back up by 18. 

In the fourth, Whittier outscored CLU 16-13 led by Emilee Dy (Chino Hills, Calif.) who added eight points off the bench but the comeback wouldn't be enough as the Poets would drop their second conference game.       

Ana Youngblood (Berkeley, Calif.) finished with her first double double on the season with 14 points and 11 boards and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line.  Dy totaled 12 points going 4-of-7 from the field in 19 minutes of action, while Emily Underwood (Nicholasville, KY) chipped in with seven points and five rebounds.

Whittier was outrebounded 46-39 for the game but forced 15 turnovers and earned 11 points off of them.  They also picked up 20 points from the bench and added 20 points in the paint.     

Whittier returns home this week for two games.  The first on Wednesday, January 11 as they take on Occidental College beginning at 7:00pm before taking on the University of La Verne on Saturday, January 14 with game time set for 5:00pm.