Champion Tigers return to the hardwood
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Nov. 12, 2009) – Coming off their first trip to the NCAA Division III tournament in program history and their second consecutive Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title, the newest version of the Tigers look to continue their winning ways in the 2009-10 season.
Occidental opens its 2009-10 campaign on Sunday, Nov. 15 when they host the La Sierra University Golden Eagles in the first of three Sunday afternoon non-conference games. After traveling to Santa Barbara to take on Westmont College, the Tigers will return home to face off with the Chapman University Panthers, the team that knocked them out of the “Big Dance” last season in a heartbreaking overtime loss. Other big regional match-ups include games against Willamette University (OR) and Lewis & Clark (OR) in the Tiger-Poet Classic, and UC Santa Cruz in another Sunday afternoon home game.
Once 2010 rolls around, the defending league champs will turn their focus to competing for a third conference title, but competition in the SCIAC will be tough as the University of Redlands, University of La Verne, Whittier College, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, and Cal Lutheran University have all improved, meaning the defending champions will have to navigate through one of the most competitive SCIAC fields in recent history in order to bring home another title.
Even with loss of the highly decorated Brianne Brown (D3Hoops.com All American, All West Region 2nd Team and two-time SCIAC Player of the Year) and the versatile Asha Jordan, the Black and Orange will have plenty of firepower returning as the Tigers roster includes 10 returning letter winners, which feature All-SCIAC performers Dior Williams and Stephanie Babij. Williams scored 11 points per game, shooting 44.7% from the field with 3.5 rebounds per game and 2.3 assists per game, but she most stood out for her 105 total steals (3.8 per game). Babij led all Tigers with 7.8 rebounds per game while chipping in 10.7 points per game with a 53.9 field goal percentage as she was a presence in the paint all season.
The Tigers will also look to senior captain and point guard Britinee Yasukochi to provide big game experience and daily leadership. Last season, Yasukochi dished out 3.3 assists per game. Returning to the court for the Tigers are the senior trio of Gillian Nugent (7.5 ppg, 39.6 3FG%, 2.0 apg), Brittany Mally (38.3 3FG%a) nd Natalie Kolodinski who spent last semester studying abroad. After being sidelined by an injury in 08-09, Samantha Rossi will play a key role for the Tigers as will Laura Mohler who rejoins the squad after a year hiatus. Gabby Hirsch-Gonzalez and Kiana Dobson each has a year of collegiate basketball experience under her belt entering the winter.
“We are excited about the season ahead. We have a great mix of experienced players to provide leadership and young players to provide energy. We have a very challenging pre-season schedule that we hope will prepare us for very competitive SCIAC play” noted Head Coach Heidi VanDerveer.
Getting their first taste of collegiate basketball this winter will be Elizabeth Little, Makenize Brandon, Stephanie Scamman, Marquisha Corley, Maayan Gordon, and Katelyn Rowe who add more west coast depth to an already deep roster.
Overall Oxy will play an 11 game non-conference schedule before
opening SCIAC play. The league home opener will take place on
Saturday, Jan. 9 in Rush Gymnasium against Whittier College at 5:00
p.m., as the Tigers look to compete for another conference title,
and a spot in the 2010 NCAA Tournament.
