WHITTIER, Calif. (Jan. 11, 2023) - The Whittier women's basketball team won its first conference game of the 2022-23 campaign, defeating Occidental, 57-54, at home Wednesday night. Watch the Poets' highlights HERE!

"It was super-important," sophomore Rhe Nae Leach said. "Our goal is to win one conference game at a time, so this just gave us momentum and more confidence in ourselves."

After trailing 46-29 with under a minute left in the third quarter, the Poets went on a 28-8 run for the remainder of the game to secure the victory in comeback fashion.

"We knew in the third quarter that we needed to share the ball and move the defense, and once we did, the game would come easy to us," Leach said.

Leach, who easily leads the SCIAC in scoring average (20.7 PPG) this season and ranks second in field-goal percentage (48.7), put forth another spectacular performance, leading all players in points (24), rebounds (11), steals (a career-high seven!) and blocks (2). She also contributed a team high-tying four assists and shot 50% from the field (7-14) and 10-12 from the free-throw line.

"Rhe Nae's always going to work hard for the team, even with a mask on," senior center Bella Robles said. "And it definitely showed on the court.  We wouldn't have gotten this dub without her."

In the fourth quarter, with Oxy homing in on her, Leach's passing was especially important and effective, with the star notching three assists in the final period.

Leach's biggest assist and the clutchest shot of the game came with 39 seconds left in the contest and the Poets clinging to a 51-50 lead. The Oxy defense converged as Leach started to post up, so she intead dished to Robles at the top of the key.

"I just knew that my defender was going to stay down," Robles said. "I looked at the shot clock, saw there was only seven seconds left, knew that I could make it and just shot it. I knew that we needed to score some way to secure the victory."

Robles' three-pointer rattled around and went down the cup, giving Whittier a four-point lead with 39 ticks to go.

"Once I saw it go in," Robles said, "I started jumping. I knew at that moment that we would win the game."

Leach also remembered the play as critical to the win.

"Every team knows that when me or (senior) Lainie (James) posts up, they are in trouble," Leach said, "So I knew they were going to swarm Lainie in the post. And Bella always has that one clutch three in every game, so I trusted she would make that shot."

Whittier outscored Oxy in points off turnover, 22-17, and in paint points, 26-20. The Poets also outrebounded the Tigers, 34-25, and outshot their SCIAC counterparts, 43.5% to 34.7%.

"Defense was really big for us today," Leach said. "We held them to less than 30 points each half, which is always our goal."

Junior transfer Citlalli Gurrola drained 3-for-5 from beyond the arc, and in addition to her clutch three-pointer, Robles contributed five rebounds and two steals. James scored 11 points, dished four assists, secured three rebounds and recorded a block. Senior guard Lizzie Scriven had another strong game, capturing three steals, three boards and one assist, while shooting 3-for-5 from the floor. Freshman Briana Green played efficiently in 16 minutes off of the bench, scoring four points, grabbing five rebounds and notching a block.

Leach (3.2) and Scriven (3.1) rank second and third in the SCIAC, respectively, in steals per game, while James leads in minutes per game (37.2). Leach ranks fourth in the conference in assists per game (3.6) and tied for seventh in rebounding average (7.8).

"This win shows what we can do," Robles said. "This was definitely a team win."

The Poets aim to continue their win streak on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the first game of a home doubleheader against Pomona-Pitzer. See you at the GAC (or on the Whittier College Sports Network, if you can't be with us in person)!

Photo: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

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