LOS ANGELES, Ca. – The Pomona-Pitzer women's basketball team defeated the Occidental Tigers 73-43 in a midweek conference tilt. Madison Quad led the Sagehens with 15 points while Kaitlyn Leung, Amara Chidom, and Emily Church all added 10 points of their own. As a team, Pomona-Pitzer shot 42.3% from the field and 26.7% from downtown while holding the Tigers to a 31.6% shooting percentage from the field and 0.0% from beyond the arc. Pomona-Pitzer will be back in action this Saturday at 4:00 p.m. to take on the CalTech Beavers. 

How It Happened

The first quarter of action featured a tight back and forth battle between the Sagehens and Tigers. Madison Quan earned the first bucket of the night just 13 seconds into the contest, but the Tigers worked their way to a two-point lead at 6-4 with 5:45 left in the quarter. Just over a minute later, Quan tied it with a layup and hit a three on the next possession, giving the Sagehens a 9-8 lead with 3:44 left to play in the first. The Tigers briefly brought the game to a tie, but Vanessa Hsia put the Sagehens back on top after hitting a jumper, ending the quarter with 12-11 lead. 

The second quarter was all Pomona-Pitzer as they held the Tigers to just six points in the quarter while dropping in 20 of their own. Madison Quan got the attack started just over two minutes into the quarter before Emily Church made a jump shot and a layup to add four more points to the Sagehens lead. Pomona-Pitzer stretched their attack over the remaining five minutes of the quarter as Amara Chidom and Kaitlyn Leung each chimed in for five points to close out the quarter. Maison Yee and Vanessa Hsia also contributed to the second quarter attack with Yee recording a steal followed by a layup with 1:51 to go and Hsia hitting another jumper with 32 seconds to go. Hsia's bucket put the Sagehens up 32-19 heading into the halftime break. 

Out of the halftime break, the Sagehens saw points from Allison Murphy, Kaitlyn Leung, and Maison Yee but the Tigers began to push forward, cutting the Sagehens lead down to 10 points at 38-28 with 2:54 left in the quarter, forcing a Pomona-Pitzer timeout. Out of the timeout, Charlize Andaya drilled a shot from downtown to make it 41-28. Andaya was fouled on the following possession and made both free throws to increase the lead once more. Emily Church made the last Sagehen bucket before the end of the third, but Occidental hit the last shot, cutting the Sagehen lead to 45-34 heading into the fourth quarter. 

The Sagehens put on a show in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Tigers 28-9 in the final 10 minutes of the game to solidify their victory. The quarter started with a jumper from the Tigers, but Pomona-Pitzer went on a 20-0 run that lasted four minutes and 31 seconds, giving them a 65-36 lead with 4:48 to play in the contest. The run saw points from Madison Quan, Vanessa Hsia, Kaitlyn Leung, Emily Church, Allison Murphy, and Amara Chidom. The Sagehens slowed things down after the 20-point run, tallying eight points in the final 3:24 as Quan, Yee, Chidom, and Hsia each added two more points as the Sagehens defeated the Tigers 73-43. 

What's Up Next

The Sagehens will be back in action this Saturday when they host the CalTech Beavers at 4:00 p.m.