Claremont, Calif. - The Pomona-Pitzer Women's Basketball team led most of the way, but undefeated UC Santa Cruz used a late surge to capture a 62-56 win over the Sagehens on Friday afternoon on day one of the David Wells Classic.

Sarah Mackey had a triple-double for the Banana Slugs with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 11 blocks, and stepped outside to knock down a key three-pointer after the Sagehens went ahead by five points late. UC Santa Cruz improves to 5-0 on the season with the win, while Pomona-Pitzer falls to 1-3. 

Junior forward Jenn Okonkwo had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Sagehens, including a tough jump hook that gave her team a 50-45 lead with 5:08 to play. On the next possession, Mackey came out of the paint and hit a three from the left corner to quickly cut the lead to 50-48, and Sarah Fitzgerald added a three-pointer on the next possession to make the score 51-50.

Okonkwo hit a jumper over Mackey to pull the Sagehens within 55-54 with 1:21 left, but Geena Giovannetti hit a three-pointer from the right corner with 52 seconds left to make it a two possession game.  Mackey followed with her 11th block of the day, and Giovannetti hit two foul shots to seal it. 

Pomona-Pitzer jumped out to a 17-9 lead on an Okonkwo jump shot and led by as many as nine points in the first half before settling for a 29-25 lead at the break. A Giovannetti three-pointer put the Banana Slugs ahead 39-35 midway through the second half, but the Sagehens answered with a 7-0 run, capped off by an Alaina Woo three-pointer, to take the lead back at 42-39.

Junior forward Basha Brulee-Wills (pictured) had a game-high 18 points to go along with eight rebounds, while Woo finished with 10 points. Junior forward Amelia Hummel added a career-high seven assists while passing out of the high post as a relief valve against the pressure defense from UC Santa Cruz. Leah Parrish had 14 points for the Banana Slugs and Giovannetti finished with 11, including five big points in the final minute.

Pomona-Pitzer is back in action tomorrow on the second day of the David Wells Classic to face Augsburg in a game that will be played at Harvey Mudd College's Linde Activities Center.