WHITTIER, Calif. (Mar. 1, 2025) – A uniquely eventful women's basketball season came to an end for Whittier College on Saturday evening with the Poets taking on California Lutheran University in the SCIAC Tournament Championship in the Graham Athletic Center.
The Poets, this season's SCIAC regular season first place team, drew a tough assignment in the second-seeded Regals; one of two teams to get the better of Whittier in conference play this season. Days after the Poets decimated fourth-seeded Pomona-Pitzer Colleges, the hope was the team could carry the momentum into Saturday's game, but ran into a deep and talented squad that, on this day, proved to be the better team.
Cal Lutheran opened the game hot, but Whittier created an opening for itself in the second quarter when it limited the Regals to just four field goals. However, the Poets were unable to, themselves, mount the offense necessary to make their opponents pay and properly position themselves for a late run. Senior guard
Rhe Nae Leach (Moreno Valley, Calif. / John W. North), in what will likely be the final game of her incredible NCAA women's basketball career, scored 19 points and found a nice home for her mid-range jumper early and often. It did not take long, however, for the SCIAC Offensive Athlete of the Year to draw double, and sometimes triple teams out the Regals. However, unlike with Thursday's game, the Poets simply lacked the execution necessary to assert themselves early and put the Regals on their back foot the way they did the Sagehens.
The second half saw the Poets get more aggressive defensively. It was here the Purple & Gold managed to come up with eight of their 10 collective steals for the game, while senior forward
Lorita Salloom (Santa Clarita, Calif. / Saugus / College of the Canyons), in the likely final game of her career, hit double-figure points, and thus, a 15-and-16 double-double. She had 10 rebounds in the first half alone, and her ability to drive the bus on the glass gave the Poets plenty of hope, even in the game's waning minutes. While Cal Lutheran led by as many as 21 points in the fourth quarter, the Poets succeeded in cutting the lead to just nine points, albeit with 1:42 to go in regulation. Just when it seemed like the game might be firmly out of reach, the Poets pulled off an improbable 13-1 run in the fourth quarter to create a manageable situation late. However, the Poets ran out of gas before they could make good on completing what would have been one of the biggest comebacks in the history of the SCIAC Tournament, though they did give the Poet faithful plenty to cheer about late.
Saturday's result aside, Whittier overcame heaps of adversity to reach the heights it did this season. Head Coach
Kristen Dowling came into the fold just three weeks prior to the start of the regular season, but hit it off with her players in a way that allowed the Poets to reach unprecedented heights during the SCIAC regular season. Though Salloom and Leach will depart the program, they will do so as two of the most prolific players in Whittier history. Meanwhile, the future looks bright with rising junior
Yaneli Rosales (San Diego, Calif. / Mount Miguel) and rising sophomore
Kennedy Perkins (Tehachapi, Calif. / Tehachapi) set to work into a 2025-26 group that will feature Dowling's first recruiting class at the helm of the Poets.
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