LA VERNE, CA — Monica Garcia Silva scored a game-high 24 points, Clarissa Perez added 19 points, and the University of La Verne women's basketball team erased a nine-point deficit late in the fourth quarter to force overtime. But the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens jumped ahead with 1:37 to play in the extra period and held on to beat the Leopards 80-77.

Season Impact

With the loss, the Leopards move to 7-5 overall and 2-2 in the SCIAC. Pomona-Pitzer improves to 9-4 overall and 3-1 in conference play.

Overtime

The Leopards took the first lead in overtime when Garcia Silva grabbed an offensive board and finished off the play with a layup. After the Sagehens retook the lead following an English layup and three free throws, Garcia Silva cut the deficit to one point with 52 seconds left to play.

Angie Steel gave the Leopards a chance to take the lead after she poked the ball away from English, setting the Leopards up with 23 seconds on the clock. But after the inbound, the Sagehens forced a jump ball and the arrow was pointing in their favor. After a foul by the Leopards, Romero made a pair of free throws with three seconds left to play to seal the game.

Stat Leaders

Garcia Silva recorded her fourth double-double of the season grabbing a game-high 15 rebounds. She also dished out three assists and added three steals. Perez added one rebound, assist, and steal. Destinee Garr had a big game off the boards, finishing with a career-high 14 rebounds. Garr made a huge play to end the third quarter. With 30 seconds left in the period, picked off the inbound pass and finished with a four-footer to give the Leopards a 49-47 advantage heading into the final 10 minutes.   

Bailey Kurahashi and Angie Steel each contributed nine points. Brittany McDaniel added seven rebounds and five points. McDaniel made an impact as soon as she stepped on the floor racking up two big blocks to make her presence known. The junior showed off some range late in the first half making her first three-pointer of the season.

Kamil English led the Sagehens with 21 points and Anita Romero contributed 17.

Neither squad could gain a significant advantage through most of the first half until a Romero jumper put Pomona-Pitzer up 28-21.  But the Leopards closed out the half strong, finishing on a 12-5 run tie the game 33-33 at the break. Ten different Leopards got on the board in the opening half. 

Next Game: The Leopard continue SCIAC play on Monday, January 7 when they host the Chapman Panthers at 7 p.m.