feb 13 women's bball
TRANSCRIPT
Hal Hargrave
2/8/15 Women’s BBALL
Sports
888 Words
A large lead for the Leopards women’s basketball team early in the game was all it needed
Saturday to defeat the Pomona Pitzer Sagehens, 68-62 at Frantz Athletics Court.
The Leopards improve to 10-11 overall on the season and 7-5 in Southern California
Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play and currently sit half a game back of Chapman for third
in the league.
The Leopards came out with a big lead early in the first quarter, 20-8, backed by a strong
shooting performance from sophomore Faye Osburn who had two three-pointers in the game.
“Our goal coming into the season was to make the top four but obviously our expectation is
higher than just making the four seed, because we would like to set a top of conference standings
so that is what we are working toward here now,” Osburn said. “We know what we have to do
and a lot of that comes down to working together as a team because it can not be a one person
show out there. We all have to play our part, which was what I tried doing today.”
Osburn finished the game with 10 points.
The Sagehens then battled back with three straight layups and cut the deficit to just six points,
16-22, with 7:49 left in the first half.
La Verne answered back in the minutes thereafter extending the lead back to 12 points, 30-18,
and taking life out of the Sagehens.
Junior guard Shannon Irwin played a pivotal factor in the game as she helped lead the Leopards
in assists with five on the game.
The Leopards had 15 assists as a team to only nine that were recorded by the Sagehens.
Irwin also finished with two steals, which was tied for the team lead in the game from junior
forward Emily Myers.
Strong rebounding from Pomona's sophomore forward Basha Brulee-Willis along with four
made free throws in just 40 seconds with 2:17 seconds left in the half brought the game back
within eight points, 32-24.
The Leopards remain focused as time wanted down the half, knowing that it was a pivotal game
with conference play coming to an end in the coming weeks.
“I was pretty fired up from our loss against Whittier earlier in the week and I knew Pomona was
not a team that we can take lightly,” Myers said. “ I knew that we needed to perform and win to
keep our spot in the top four in conference to make the tournament.”
La Verne came well prepared for the game because of having played the Sagehens earlier in the
season and were then able to look back at film and recognize some of their tendencies and they
identified that ball pressure would be a huge factor in the game. The Leopards generated 23
points off 20 turnovers that the sage hands committed.
Freshman guard Taylor Bolden hit a buzzer beating shot at the end of the first half that was
assisted by sophomore forward Gaby Moura-Hayes, to put the Leopards up by 11, 35-24 at
halftime.
La Verne managed to pull out a victory despite two strong double-double performances from the
Sagehens.
Brulee-Willis had 24 points and 14 rebounds, while junior forward Amelia Hummel had 12
points and 17 rebounds.
La Verne started strong in the second half and went on a 12-2 run behind good low post play
from Myers who was 4-5 during the stretch. The double-double machine finished with 19 points
and 10 rebounds, for her fifth double-double of the season.
She currently ranks third in SCIAC in rebounding at 8.5 per game.
“ Rebounding to me is a matter of hustle and how bad you want it, and I want our team to win so
badly that I am always hustling,” Myers said.
The Leopards gained their largest lead of the game when Hicks nailed consecutive free throws
with 15:12 left in the second half, 47-28.
“Most of our games this year have been a case where both teams have come out hot,” Hicks said.
“So during a game of big runs you have to be able to maintain a strong bench with high energy to
keep that momentum going. My team sees me as somebody off the bench that can provide that
spark so I try to keep the momentum going forward.”
Hicks finished with 11 points and two assists.
The Sagehens battled back to get within nine points, 46-55, with 6:21 left in the game after a 14-
4 run but, a big game from Hicks stopped the bleeding.
Sagehen sophomore guard Alaina Woo hit a big three pointer for with 18 seconds left to make it
a five point game.
Hicks then a free throw to seal the deal and end the game, 68-62.
The Leopards had 33 bench points to only 10 made by the Sagehens bench.
The Leopards next game is at 2 p.m. on Saturday against Redlands at the Frantz Athletic Court.
“ This week will probably be one of the biggest weeks of the year for the team because we know
need to win both games to keep pace with remaining in the top four,” Osburn said. “So we will
try to keep that mindset going into practice this week and going into our games to try and play
strong and together as a team.”
Hal Hargrave can be reached at [email protected] .
Sources
1. Emily Myers, ULV Basketball Player, [email protected], 360-936-76062. Faye Osburn, ULV Basketball Player, [email protected]. Tiffany Hicks, ULV Basketball Player, [email protected]