CLAREMONT, CA. – The Pomona-Pitzer Women's Basketball team opened up their 2024 season with a 57-50 win over UC Santa Cruz on Sunday afternoon at Voelkel Gymnasium.
 
The Sagehens were led by Emily Lee who posted 17 points in the win.  Jadyn Lee was right behind Emily Lee with 15 points and nine rebound while Abigail Homan added 13 points as well.
 
The Sagehens started and ended well against UC Santa Cruz as they shot 47% in the first quarter and ended with 60% in the fourth.  Pomona-Pitzer shot 38.6% from the field for the game and hit on 2-9 from three for 22.2%.
 
A big start out of the gate with the first 17 points of the game for Pomona-Pitzer before UC Santa Cruz scored and tried to chip away at the lead with the Sagehens up 19-6 after the first quarter of play.
 
Pomona-Pitzer got the lead back up to 17 after a Homan layup to make it 23-6, but the Banana Slugs did a good job of making a late run in the second quarter to close the gap down to 29-25 heading into halftime.
 
Santa Cruz continued to fight their way back in the middle quarters of the game and tied it a 35-35 with 2:15 left in the third. The Banana Slugs took their first lead at 37-3, but the Sagehens ended with back-to-back baskets from Jadyn Lee to take a 39-37 lead into the fourth.
 
The Banana Slugs started well in the fourth with a small run to take their largest lead of the day at 44-41 until the Sagehens sparked a 9-3 run to take a 50-44 lead with just under three minutes to go.  UCSC hung around but an and-one from Jadyn Lee made it 54-48 with a minute to play and that was enough to ice the game as the Sagehens started 2024 with a win.
 
Up Next: The Sagehens will next play Linfield at Chapman on Friday, November 15^th at 6:00 p.m.