CLAREMONT, CA. – The Pomona-Pitzer Women's Basketball team fell to non-conference opponent UC Santa Cruz 68-57 on Saturday afternoon at Voelkel Gymnasium.
 
Season Impact: With the loss, the Sagehens fall to 1-3 overall.
 
The Sagehens were led by Emily Lee who scored a team-high 21 points on 8-11 from the field. Abigail Homan and Jadyn Lee also reached double-digits scoring with 11 and 10 while Kellie Au and Ali Bennett each chipped in with five.
 
Pomona-Pitzer struggled to find offense in the first half with their two lowest-scoring quarters of the game in the first and second quarters. The Sagehens also turned the ball over 16 times and only forced 10 with Santa Cruz earning 20 points off of turnovers. The Banana Slugs also earned 14 second-chance points and outscored the Sagehens in the paint 34-26.
 
UC Santa Cruz got out to a good start on offense shooting 56.7% from the floor in the first half while the Sagehens struggled out of the gate on offense shooting 31.8%. The Sagehens stayed with Santa Cruz early in the first quarter with UCSC holding a 10-7 lead, but good shooting from the Slugs extended the lead late in the first quarter to take a 21-11 lead.
 
The Sagehens had a tough second quarter scoring with just eight while Santa Cruz added another 21 points to its total. The Sagehens trailed 26-16 with 7:24 left until halftime, but UC Santa Cruz ended the half with a 16-3 run to take a 42-19 lead heading into halftime.
 
Pomona-Pitzer's offense got in sync during the second half as they started to gain some ground back on the scoreboard. The Sagehen defense held Santa Cruz to just seven points in the third quarter while Bennett and Homan combined for 10 of the Sagehens' 14 points in the third to cut the lead down to 49-33.
 
The Sagehens kept their momentum going in the fourth quarter as they kept chipping away at the Banana Slugs' lead. Pomona-Pitzer got the lead down to just 10 points at 52-42 after a Katie Drais three-pointer with 6:07 left to play but couldn't make that extra run down the stretch as their comeback attempt came up short in the fourth quarter.
 
Up Next: The Sagehens will next host the David Wells Classic as they take on East Texas Baptist on Friday, November 24^th at 6:30 p.m.