Box Score Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
CLAREMONT, Calif. – The Whittier College Women's Basketball team put together a strong showing against Claremont-M-S Tuesday night but couldn't pull off the road win as they fell 61-48.
Whittier remains in the hunt for a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Post-Season Tournament berth as they drop to 6-15, 5-7 SCIAC, while Claremont-M-S improves to 14-8, 10-3 SCIAC.
The height for the Athenas caused issues for the Purple & Gold as they were outrebounded 46-29. Both teams shot under 35% from the field but CMS managed to add 16 second chance points and 16 points in the paint, which proved the difference.
CMS held onto a slight three point lead at 17-14 following the first quarter of play with seven of the Poets points coming from freshman Cali Cubel (Oceanside, Calif.). Whittier trailed 15-5 in the early stages but came back strong with a 9-0 run covering three minutes, capped off with a three-pointer from Kaylah Alexander (Altoona, PA) that pulled them within one.
The Athenas came out and added a quick three-pointer in the second quarter that sparked seven straight. Whittier though struggled from the floor totaling just five points on 9% shooting that saw them trail 32-19 at the half.
The Poets were held to single digits again in the third quarter as they were outscored 19-7 but came back big in the fourth adding 22 points with Ana Youngblood (Berkeley, Calif.) adding six, while shooting 57% from the field.
But even by outscoring CMS 22-10, Whittier was still unable to complete the comeback as they fell 61-48. Cubel finished with 12 points and had four boards and three steals. Youngblood added 10 going 3-for-8 from the field. Carly Buechler (Greenwood Village, CO) tossed in nine points and was a perfect 3-3 from behind the arc, while Emilee Dy (Chino Hills, Calif.) chipped in with eight off the bench.
Whittier remains on the road this Saturday, February 11 as they take on Pomona-Pitzer with game time set for 5:00pm.
