By Cyanna Rosa
LA VERNE, CA- After a buzzer-beater win for the University of La Verne's women's basketball team on Wednesday, they came back to the Tents this Saturday with that adrenaline rush to conquer the Whitter Poets.
The Leopards targeted rebounds all afternoon with 33 rebounds in the first half alone. Angelica Gonzales had a great game, leading the Leopards in points in the first half, doubling it to 66 rebounds at the last buzzer. Gonzales found herself under the net for the offensive rebounds, getting action on the scoreboard quickly to raise a one-point lead in the first quarter to a 17-point gap, 37-20.
The Poets had trouble finding the inner rim all afternoon, leaving the Leopards in possession of the lead for the second half. Leopard Chiara Brown had a solid second half and continued to work inside the foul line, finding a total of 8 points for the game. In the third quarter, the Leopards had multiple chances at the foul line and bumped up the score to a 30-point lead with one minute remaining before the fourth, 52-22.
In the fourth quarter, Brianna Torres (8 pts), Valentina Limon (2 pts) and Casey Kuramoto (9 pts) dominated the court with assistance from Mariah Lora and Naomi Jackson. With no surprise, the Leopards won their ninth conference game, staying undefeated, 70-33. Head coach Jason Pruitt was pleased with his team's effort and consistency today. "We are just blessed that we played a great game and it allowed us to go deep into our bench early. Our team this year is very balanced. So we're going to need not just balance in whatever five is on the court, but really from 1 through 10. We can play that many ladies. I think you can get greater consistency then because you have more people playing. We have a group of ladies who are trying to win and a group of transfers & returners who understand the sense of urgency. We haven't changed a lot of the things we do, but we have added more detail to them. Our staff now pays greater attention to detail, and it was needed! We had to take a hard look at it and evaluate everything to find out what's our best chance at being successful. We're capable of doing better and have shown times like tonight where we've guarded extremely well. What I'm concerned with is the up and down of the last three games. Our captains have to be solid for us, and I think they will be moving forward. We just thank God for health and the ability to just come out and enjoy the moment."
The Leopards will look for their tenth consecutive conference win this Wednesday, January 25th against Caltech at 7 PM PST.
