Tigers Tamed by Warriors

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Nov. 25 2008) – For the first time this season the Occidental College women’s basketball team suffered a loss. Tonight in Rush Gymnasium the Tigers fell 59-39 to the Warriors or Westmont College, an NAIA school from Santa Barbara.

After trailing for the majority of the first half, but never by more than five points, the Tigers chipped away and pulled even at 17-17 when Brianne Brown finished off a three-point play with 4:06 to play in the half. A little under three minutes later Dior Williams hit along three-pointer on an assist from Brown to again knot the game at 20. Brittany Mally put Oxy on top with a bucket 42 seconds before the break before Williams added another basket at the buzzer to give Occidental a 24-21 lead entering the locker rooms.

Both teams started slow in the second half, but Westmont managed to put a together a 10-4 run to open a 10-point lead with 7:11 to play in regulation. They then added 14 points to their total while Oxy managed to score just four more in the game.

The Tigers were led by Williams who shot 7-for-13 from the field en route to an 18 point performance, which led all players. She also tallied a game high five steals. Brown was next in line for Oxy with nine points, adding five assists.

Westmonthad three players reach double figures scoring. Amber Stevens recorded a double-double (15 points, 10 rebounds) and was three assists away from a triple-double with seven. She also had a pair of steals in the game.

Occidental shot 38.5% from the field in the opening stanza but finished the game with a mere shooting percentage of 25 (4-for-16). Missed free-throws down the stretch hurt the Tigers (9-for-16) as did 26 turnovers. However, the Oxy defense did force 20 turnovers.

Westmontheld the rebounding edge, 35-25, and grabbed 11 offensive boards to the Tigers’ eight.

Occidental will be back in action on Saturday, Dec. 6 when they travel to Orange, Calif. to face the Chapman University Panthers at 7:00 p.m.