Photo: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. (Jan. 10, 2022) – Junior forward Lainie James (La Habra, Calif. / Sonora) lifted the Whittier College women's basketball team to a 53-46 road win at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps College on Wednesday evening with stellar play on both sides of the ball.

The junior transfer showed she can be a go-to option for the Poets with a strong inside and outside offensive game against one of the SCIAC's most historically consistent teams. Her 24-point performance helped the Poets exact a measure of revenge on the Athenas for bouncing them from the SCIAC Postseason Tournament in 2020. The Whittier offense ultimately went as James and senior guard Teani White (Burbank, Calif. / Viewpoint) went, as the two players began to heat up together as time transpired, accounting for 40 of the Poets' 53 points for the game. White is coming off her third SCIAC Offensive Athlete of the Week honor of the season and proved just how warranted the three honors were with 16 points, seven assists and six rebounds, five of which came on the offensive end. In Monday's game, however, it was James who did the lion's share of the damage, particularly from the three-point line where shot and incredible 5-for-6 over the full 40 minutes. White assisted on three of James' five triples.

While the Poets showed they may have the premier offensive duo in the conference, they also showed they can control the pace against a tough CMS team. While it took the Whittier offense some time to find a groove, they successfully mucked things up for the home team along the way, holding CMS to nine first quarter points and no more than 14 points in any quarter of the game. The Poets' low-post dominance against a team that is historically very good in that area proved to be a difference maker. James finished the game with four blocks while freshman guard Rhe Nae Leach (Riverside, Calif. / John W. North) had three blocks, two steals and eight rebounds, a total that matched that of senior forward Shaeleigh Wright (Long Beach, Calif. / Long Beach Millikan). Whittier went on to outrebound CMS by 10 and outscore them in the paint by the same amount. The healthy blend of James' outside shooting and the Poets' collective two-way dominance down low created a recipe for success the Athenas had no answer for, and as a result, Whittier led wire-to-wire with the exception of the game's first basket. The win moves the Poets to 4-1 in SCIAC games, giving them more wins than any team in the conference to date.

Head Coach Roy Dow and the Poets will look to make it three consecutive SCIAC wins when they host the University of La Verne on Saturday, Jan. 15 at 4 p.m.

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