WHITTIER, Calif. (Feb. 27, 2025) – Led by SCIAC Offensive Athlete of the Year
Rhe Nae Leach (Moreno Valley, Calif. / John W. North), the Whittier College women's basketball team continued their incredible rampage through the 2024-25 season with a dominant victory over visiting fourth-seeded Pomona-Pitzer Colleges. The Poets defeated the Sagehens, 78-49 in front of a raucous home crowd of nearly 400 people.
The 29-point victory came as a result of the Poets dominating Thursday's game from pillar to post. They set a great defensive tone to neutralize the Sagehens' deep ball, and once that was established, the offense was able to seamlessly take over. Leach, fresh off becoming the first SCIAC women's player to ever capture Defensive Athlete of the Year and Offensive Athlete of the Year in her career, showed why she is the conference's best player by delivering her best all-around performance of the season. She scored 31 points on an efficient 11-for-17 shooting night, and came one rebound and one assists away from achieving the elusive triple-double. She even knocked down a three-pointer in the second half, proof positive of the sheer amount of confidence she was able to play with on Wednesday evening. She also went 8-for-8 at the charity stripe, further limiting Pomona-Pitzer's ability to work its way back into contention.
As incredible of a game as Leach had -- and perhaps the best of her career -- she wasn't alone, and benefitted from an in-sync Poets squad up and down the lineup. Sophomore point guard
Yaneli Rosales (San Diego, Calif. / Mount Miguel), who has made waves this year with her ability to facilitate to players like Leach and fellow First Team All-SCIAC selection
Lorita Salloom (Santa Clarita, Calif. / Saugus / College of the Canyons), showed just what a dangerous player she can be if everything is going right with her shot. She scored 15 points on 5-of-11 shooting and connected on a trio of three-pointers, and was not the only Whittier player to do so. Freshman forward
Kennedy Perkins (Tehachapi, Calif. / Tehachapi) also displayed a much-improved three-point shot three triples in her own right. The development of both players as had a huge hand in the Poets running through the SCIAC to the tune of a 14-2 record, and furthermore, making a good Pomona-Pitzer squad look like they didn't belong on the same court.
Whittier's ability to create takeaways frustrated the Sagehens early and often. Those turnovers didn't necessarily result in direct scoring opportunities in transition, but it did cause the visitors to play tight, even as the game began to get out of hand in the second half. Both Leach and Salloom finished with five steals apiece, and while Salloom took something of a backseat to the Whittier role players in Thursday's game, she still finished with 13 points and three assists. Ultimately, the Poets were able to hold the Sagehens to just 4-of-25 shooting from deep and star guard Jadyn Lee, a 16 point per game player for her career, to just two points. Thursday's game was a living, breathing example of what the Poets are capable of when at their best, and they will now look to keep the ball rolling heading into the championship game this weekend.
Dowling and the Poets will now face perhaps their toughest test of the year in a second-seeded California Lutheran University team that split with the Poets in the SCIAC regular season. The Poets were, however, able to beat the Regals the last time they came to Whittier, and did so by a score of 72-66. Saturday's game is scheduled for a 5 p.m. tip.
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