Box Score SANTA CRUZ, CA. – The Pomona-Pitzer Women's Basketball team fell to non-conference opponent UC Santa Cruz 79-66 on Saturday afternoon.
Season Impact: With the loss, the Sagehens end their three-game road stand at 1-2 overall.
The Sagehens were led by Madison Quan who dropped 20 points in the loss. Charlize Andaya added 13 points while Kaitlyn Leung had 11 points and eight rebounds while Emily Church came off the bench with a double-double at 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Santa Cruz had a nice night shooting from the floor as they were just below 50% at 47.7% from the field with Pomona-Pitzer hitting on 40.7%. The Sagehens shot better from beyond the arc at 31.6% to Santa Cruz's 27.8, but the Banana Slugs won the turnover battle 27-24 and outrebounded the Sagehens 37-34.
The two teams stayed close in the first quarter with the Sagehens having the biggest lead of the first quarter at 14-11. Quan netted seven of her 20 in the first quarter alone to help the Sagehens into the second with an 18-17 lead.
Santa Cruz started to take over during the second quarter with the Sagehens hitting on just 15% of their shots in the second. After being tied at 21-21, Santa Cruz sparked an 11-3 run to take a 32-24 lead. The Banana Slugs outscored the Sagehens 21-9 in the second to take a 38-27 lead into halftime.
Santa Cruz started out hot in the second half and extended its lead to 45-31 early in the third quarter, forcing the Sagehens to try to chip away at the lead. Pomona-Pitzer got the deficit back to under 10 points after an Emily Lee three made it 47-40 with 4:30 left in the third. The Banana Slugs held off the Sagehens' comeback and went on to extend their lead to 63-45 heading into the fourth.
After falling behind by double digits, the Sagehens struggled in the fourth to get back into the striking distance as Santa Cruz handed Pomona-Pitzer its second loss in their three-game road trip.
Up Next: The Sagehens will next host Whitman on Tuesday, November 22nd at 7:00 p.m.
