Tiger, Poet Sweep as Tournament co-hosts

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Dec. 16, 2008) – It was a new day with the same results as Occidental College hosted the final day of the 2008 Tiger-Poet Classic Women’s Basketball Tournament. Game one went to co-host Whittier College who defeated the College of St. Elizabeth (NJ) 70-56 before the Tigers downed Pacific Union 66-55 in the final game of the tournament.

St. Elizabeth’s opened the game with a three-pointer to get the scoring started and the teams remained close until Whittier took over the lead midway through the opening frame and never trailed again in a 70-56 triumph over the College of St. Elizabeth’s on day two of the Tiger-Poet Classic.

WC shot 44.3% from the field behind a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double from sophomore Kourtney Zilbert. Tina Merlino (12) and Melissa Johnson (10) both reached double figures for the Poets as well. Morgan Sabala finished with five assists while Ashley Vierra and Zilbert had three apiece.

For the second consecutive night Jessica Dixon led all players with 21 points for the Eagles while teammate Sara Kozlowski recorded a double-double with 13 points (3-for-5 from three-point range) and 10 rebounds.

The Poets held a huge 42-28 rebounding edge and nearly doubled up CSE in offensive rebounds with 13 to the Eagles’ seven. Erica Amico pulled down seven rebounds in just 13 minutes off the bench for Whittier. Dixon grabbed eight rebounds for the Eagles, while also dishing out a game-high six assists and four steals. Diane DaSilva chipped in with five assists for CSE.

Overall St. Elizabeth’s shot 37.9% from the field, but was solid from the stripe behind an 8-for-9 performance by Dixon.

Whittier improves to 5-2 overall while the College of St. Elizabeth’s falls to 7-6.

In the final game of the tournament the teams battled throughout as the Tigers chipped away at an 11-point deficit mid-way through the opening period to tie the game at 35-35 entering the locker rooms at the break.

Early in the second half Oxy strung together a 19-6 run to open a lead they would not relinquish for the remainder of regulation to steal a come-from-behind win on their home court tonight.

The Tigers combined to shoot 50% from the field, including 47.1% from three-point range behind a 4-for-6 performance from junior guard Gillian Nugent who came off the bench to total a team-high 18-points. Stephanie Babij, who was a rebound away from her second consecutive double-double, and Dior Williams scored 15 points apiece for Occidental.

Pacific University shot 36.7% from the field and faltered to the Tigers’ pressure on the perimeter in the second half going 0-for-8 from long range after hitting 4-for-8 in the opening half. Rochelle Reeves led all players in the game with 19 points on 8-for-14 shooting while Julianne Erbe tallied 14 points.

Occidental slightly out-rebounded the Boxers 31-29, but Pacific University grabbed 12 offensive boards to the Tigers’ eight. Babij led the field with nine rebounds while Britinee Yasukochi and Asha Jordan pulled down six and five, respectively for the Tigers. Mallory Goldammer led the Boxers with six and Erbe and Kalei Frank each finished with five.

Occidental improves to 4-2 as Pacific University falls to 1-6.

Complete scores and stats from the tournament can be found below.

Monday, December 15, 2008 - all games at Occidental

 Tuesday, December 16, 2008 - all games at Occidental