Box Score CLAREMONT, CA. – The Pomona-Pitzer Women's Basketball team bounced back with a 74-66 win over Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) opponent Caltech on Wednesday night at Voelkel Gymnasium.
Season Impact: With the win, the Sagehens improve to 8-8 overall and 4-4 in SCIAC play.
The Sagehens were led by junior Renae Tamura who put up a team-high 19 points in the win. First-year Emily Church came off of the bench for 15 points and eight rebounds while sophomore Madison Quan chipped in with 11 points and four assists.
The Sagehens shot 40.6% from the floor and picked up their three-point shooting with 30.8% from three. The Sagehens defense forced 20 turnovers for Caltech and converted 23 points off of turnovers while the Beavers only took advantage of six points off of the Sagehens' 10 turnovers.
Despite scoring the first four points of the game, the Sagehens got out to a slow start in the first quarter. The Sagehens scored only 11 points in the first quarter and shot just 18% from the field. Pomona-Pitzer held a 10-6 lead with just under four minutes to play in the quarter, but the Beavers ended the quarter with a few stops and baskets and took a 13-11 lead over the Sagehens heading into the second quarter.
Pomona-Pitzer got its offense going in the second quarter as they shot 50% from the floor and tallied 20 points in the second quarter alone. Caltech had the lead early on with a 20-17 lead with 6:32 left before half but the Sagehens came battling back and reclaimed the lead at 31-29 after a Tamura three-pointer with 20 seconds left and the Sagehens went into halftime with the two-point lead.
The third quarter was all Sagehens with Pomona-Pitzer shooting 57.9% from the field and 50% from three with a game-high 27 points. The Beavers kept it close early on in the second half but the Sagehens began to separate themselves as they forced five turnovers in the third and converted some easy points on offense to take a 58-43 lead heading into the fourth.
Caltech spent the fourth quarter digging themselves out of a hole but outscored the Sagehens 23-16 in the fourth. Caltech chipped away at the lead throughout the fourth and got the game back to within eight points at 70-62 after a pair of made free throws with 2:55 left in the game. The Sagehens clamped down on defense and prevented the late comeback from the Beavers and walked away with the win at home.
Up Next: The Sagehens will next host non-conference opponent UC Santa Cruz on Saturday, January 25th at 2:00 p.m.
