Defense Leads Tigers to Win Over Anderson
ORANGE, Calif. (Dec. 31, 2009) - On day two of the Tiger Panther Classic, both the Tigers and co host Chapman Panthers picked up victories, as Chapman defeated the University of Texas at Dallas 69-52 while Oxy also cruised to a 73-58 victory. The Tigers rebounded from a tough loss yesterday and came out today with a renewed passion on defense, forcing 23 turnovers as their defensive pressure wore out the visiting Ravens.
In the first half, the Tiger defense only allowed Anderson to get off 18 shots, compared to the 29 attempted by Oxy. But the Ravens kept it close by shooting 67% from the field, going into the locker room only trailing by six, 36-30. Coming out of halftime, Oxy did not make change to much, but they executed much better. Converting 71% of their freethrow opportunities and although the Ravens were able to get off more shots in the second half, they were continually contested, resulting in the visitors connecting on less than they did in the first half.
Oxy (7-3) had five players break double digits tonight, led by Stephanie Babij (13 points), while 11 points apiece came from Gillian Nugent and Dior Williams. Williams also spearheaded the defense, coming up with a game high 4 steals, followed closely by Britinee Yasukochi who picked up 3 to go along with 10 points, also helping out on the offensive end was Makenzie Brandon who found the bottom of the net for 10 of her own. Katelyn Rowe did the work on the glass, grabbing seven offensive boards on the way to, a game high, 12 rebounds. For the Ravens, they were led Lauren Leisure, who had a game high 16 points.
The Tigers now will focus on going after their third consecutive regular season SCIAC conference championship, opening conference play on Thursday, January 7th, as they will travel to take on Pomona Pitzer.
