Photo: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. (Dec. 4, 2021) – Senior guard Teani White (Burbank, Calif. / Viewpoint) of the Whittier College women's basketball team emphatically punched her ticket into the 1,000 point club as the Poets handled business at Caltech, 58-50, moving to 2-0 against conference foes this season.

White hit exactly 1,001 points for her career on an open look at the top of the key with just 46 seconds to go in the first half of Saturday's game. The senior took a pass from junior foward Lainie James (La Habra, Calif. / Sonora) and fired a three-pointer that swished through the net with ease, giving the Poets a nine-point lead over the Beavers to close out the first half. White's historic triple capped off a 23-6 second quarter for Whittier that completely changed the complexion of the game, setting the stage for what's to come. As for White, she becomes the first Poet since former teammate Cali Cubel '20 to cross the 1,000-point threshhold.

"[1,000 points] is a big accomplishment for me, although it is not something that I initially had as a goal coming into college," White said. "I kind of just came in and played the game but as the years went on and I saw that it was achievable, I turned it into a personal goal of mine. Winning is always the goal, so the fact that I was able to reach this milestone while helping my team get the 'W' on the road, I don't think I would've wanted it to happen any other way."

While the Poets have taken on the identity of being a second-half team through the first six games this season, Saturday saw the Purple & Gold find themselves early in the second quarter where they shot plus-50 percent collectively while holding the Beavers to under 25 percent. Slowly but surely, the Poets were not only able to erase an eight-point Caltech lead, but flip things back the other way thanks to quality possessions on both the offensive and defensive end. Whittier also found something that worked from a matchup standpoint, as four different players saw the floor for the entire period while at least five players logged at least eight minutes. White and James combined for 16 of Whittier's 23 points during this stretch to give the visitors as much momentum as they could want at halftime on the road.

"An emphasis of ours has been to start coming out strong by bringing consistent effort in all four quarters," White said. "We have started out slow so many times and made it harder for ourselves than it needed to be. Especially for this game, a major point of emphasis was to play to our pace and not just play together but play for one another. I think that is a major reason why we held the lead for a majority of the game and ultimately got the win."

The second half saw the Poets tighten up defensively as they looked to continue to incrementally build upon their lead. However, Caltech hung tough and cut the Poets' lead to just four with two and a half minutes to go in regulation. It was here that freshman Rhe Nae Leach (Riverside, Calif. / John W. North) took over the game, first by converting on a pair of free throws before adding four more points and generating two steals in a block over the final 150 seconds alone. Leach's final two and a half minutes may have been the best individual stretch a Poet has had all season over such a small chunk of time, and the big plays on the defensive end helped put the Purple & Gold on top for good. Leach, along with James and junior Kailynn Tuck (Portland, Ore. / Jesuit) all had 11 points while White posted another quality line with 18 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. The effort marked her second double-double of the season, and the Poets are 7-0 in all games when White has had at least 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The senior point guard ultimately believes Saturday's game came down to the Poets' strong basketball IQ and understanding of differing late-game situations.

"The key to finishing this game was taking care of the basketball and making the smarter play," White said. "Knowing time and situation, at the end of the game it was about getting the best possible shot while using up as much time as possible to not give them any more opportunities to stay in the game. Ball movement and playing unselfishly was a major key to securing the game."

Head Coach Roy Dow and the Poets will have the next 10 days to refine their skills before returning to Dave Jacobs Court to take the floor against the University of Redlands on Tuesday, Dec. 14. Like the Poets, the Bulldogs are one of three teams in the SCIAC to have not lost to a conference foe this season.

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