Box Score Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
PASADENA, Calif. – The Whittier College Women's Basketball team pulled out a low scoring affair Wednesday night beating Caltech 52-50 completing the season sweep over the Beavers.
With the win the Poets extend their winning streak to nine games and finish the month of January a perfect 7-0. They now improve to 14-6, 8-2 SCIAC and currently sit in sole possession of 2nd place in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Standings.
It was a slow start for the Purple & Gold getting outscored in the opening quarter 15-13. They bounced back in the 2nd Quarter though with a 17-13 effort giving them a 30-28 lead at the break. Both teams recorded single digits in the 3rd period with WC extending their advantage to three. Then in the 4th, even though Caltech outscored Whittier 14-13 over the final 10:00 minutes it wouldn't be enough to pull out the victory.
An early 5-0 run to start off the fourth quarter would give Whittier a 44-38 lead behind free-throws from Shaeleigh Wright (Long Beach, Calif.) and Emily Guerena (Montebello, Calif.) and a jumper from Teani White (Burbank, Calif.). Grace Peng for the Beavers stayed red-hot scoring the first 13-points for CIT in the quarter keeping them within striking distance at 51-49 at the 1:31 mark. A free-throw from Helen Siavelis would make it a one-point game but that's as close as Caltech would get as White would secure the win with a free-throw with :13 seconds on the clock.
White poured in a team high 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting that went with eight rebounds, two assists and two steals. Guerena registered 14 points off the bench and was a rebound shy of a double double. She also totaled three blocks. She was the only Poet bench player to score on the night. Cali Cubel (Oceanside, Calif.) finished with nine points and Wright would tack on five points, four rebounds and two picks.
Whittier shot 35% from the field and 25% from three-point territory. They were edged 35-34 on the glass but added 20 points in the paint, and 24 points off turnovers.
Whittier returns home to the Graham Athletic Center this Saturday, February 1 when they host Claremont-M-S beginning at 4:00pm.
