Co-Hosts Occidental and Whittier Both Post Victories on Day One of Tiger-Poet Classic

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Dec. 15, 2008) – On the first day of the annual Tiger-Poet Women’s Basketball Classic the Whittier College Poets and Occidental College Tigers defeated Pacific University (Ore.) Boxers and College of St. Elizabeth (NJ), 70-56 and 61-41, respectively, at Rush Gymnasium on the campus of Occidental College.

Game one got off to a slow start, but the teams were never separated by more than four points until the Poets used a 13-0 run to open up a 30-17 advantage with 3:36 to play in the opening stanza. Pacific University chipped away and pulled within seven at intermission, as the scoreboard stood at 32-25 in favor of Whittier.

The Boxers opened the second half hot, tying the game at 34-34 with just over 17 minutes to play and the teams were knotted again with 14 minutes remaining in regulation. Pacific University then went on a 10-2 run to take a six-point lead, but the Poets would not fade away down the stretch. WC responded with a 7-0 run of their own, never looking back en route to a 65-56 victory.

One big difference in the game was free-throw shooting. Whittier was solid at the line, shooting 85.7% overall after opening with a 14-for-15 combined performance in the first half while Pacific University shot just 50% in free-throw chances.

Overall the Boxers slightly outshot the Poets hitting 41.4% from the field while Whittier made 39.4% of their shots. Kourtney Zilbert and Morgan Sabala each scored 13 points for the Poets to lead all players while Tina Merlino added 10. For Pacific Christine Kim and Erica Schultz finished in double-figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Julianne Erbe also dished out a game-high five assists for PU while Keimil Lew had four assists for Whittier.

Each team grabbed 32 rebounds with 12 offensive boards. Kim and Erbe (four offensive rebounds) from and Brittany Aranda (WC) each finished with a game-high seven boards. Zilbert led all players with five steals.

In game two, host Occidental jumped out to a 22-14 lead at the break before putting up 39 second half points to claim a 61-41 victory over the College of St. Elizabeth on opening day.

Rebounding was a key component to the Tigers’ success tonight as they grabbed 47 boards to the Eagles’ 21, limiting the visiting College of St. Elizabeth to a pair of offensive rebounds while they managed to grab 17.

Occidental sank 10 more field goals than St. Elizabeth and spread out the scoring with nine played recording at least one point for the Tigers.

Sophomore Stephanie Babij led the way with a double-double that included 13 points and 10 rebounds (four offensive) while Dior Williams and Gillian Nugent (2-for-2 from three-point range) each chipped in with 10 points. Zoe Walsh came off the bench to score eight points (4-for-6)  in just 13 minutes for Oxy as well.

Brianne Brown and Brittany Mally each tallied eight rebounds for the black and orange.

St. Elizabeth was paced by Jessica Dixon who scored a game-high 17 points on 7-for-14 shooting adding another game-high five steals. On the glass Maesoon Deeb grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Eagles while teammate Sarah Kozlowski finished with four blocks, five assists, five rebounds and eight points.

On day two of the Tiger-Poet Classic the College of St. Elizabeth will meet co-host Whittier at 5:00 p.m. before Pacific University and Occidental tip-off at 7:00 p.m.

Scores and stats can be found below as well as game schedule for day two.

Monday, December 15, 2008 - all games at Occidental

 Tuesday, December 16, 2008 - all games at Occidental