WHITTIER, Calif. (Nov. 11, 2024) – Led by a huge game from senior forward
Lorita Salloom (Santa Clarita, Calif. / Saugus / College of the Canyons), the new-look Whittier College women's basketball team got its season off on the right foot against Westcliff University on Saturday night.
The Poets beat the Warriors, 65-42, putting on a defensive clinic to give Head Coach
Kristen Dowling her first win as a member of the Purple & Gold in her return to SCIAC women's basketball.
Although Saturday's rebounding numbers were close, the Poets ultimately got the job done behind 20 second-chance points 28 turnovers (with 17 steals) and 34 points off turnovers. Senior guard
Rhe Nae Leach (Moreno Valley, Calif. / John W. North) was instrumental on the defensive end with five steals. Leach is the reigning SCIAC Defensive Athlete of the Year.
While Leach, herself scored 17 of Whittier's 65 points, the offensive star on Saturday proved to be classmate Salloom, who had 21 points to go with 13 rebounds. Perhaps just as importantly, the senior recovered from a slow start to shoot 70 percent down the stretch and help the Purple & Gold leave the visiting Warriors in the dust.
A big key for the Poets this year will be role players stepping up to provide supplemental support both with depth scoring and on the glass. Freshman forward
Kennedy Perkins (Tehachapi, Calif. / Tehachapi) did just that on Saturday with seven points and eight rebounds in limited action. Five of the freshman's rebounds came on the offensive end. In fact, the Poets collectively had 21 offensive rebounds for the game, nearly 40 percent of their total for the game.
Westcliff contended early by closing the first-quarter deficit to just four points. However, Whittier went on to outscore the visitors, 19-7, in the second quarter, and ran away with the game behind Salloom's excellent outing and a series of contributions off the bench.
Coach Dowling and the Poets will make a quick turnaround to play a tough NAIA team in Bushnell University on Monday, Nov. 11 with tip scheduled for 7 p.m.
Follow and show support for your Whittier Poets on Twitter (@WCPoets), YouTube and Instagram (@PoetAthletics)!
