By Billy Ray Lopez, Sports Information Assistant

LA VERNE – The University of La Verne Leopards outscored the Caltech Beavers by 19 points in the first quarter and held on to win 82-71, stretching their win streak to six straight games. 

It's been nearly three weeks since the Leopards last played, against Life Pacific University back on December 21st. However, they showed no signs of rust as they scored 29 points in the first quarter led by Marissa Howell, who knocked down three 3-point shots from the field. La Verne also got 8 points from Jaelyn Curley and 7 points from Monica Garcia Silva in the first quarter as they shot 64% from the field and 67% from three. 

The Leopards added 5 more three-pointers in the second quarter as they held a comfortable lead at the half with a score of 54-31. 

Caltech outscored La Verne in the third quarter, led by Sahana Saikumar who went 4-6 from the field scoring 9 points to trim the deficit to 19 points heading into the 4th quarter. 

The Beavers' strong effort continued into the fourth when they trimmed the deficit to only 9 points with 3:28 left in the game. However, the Leopard defense intensified and prevented the Beavers from rallying, closing out the game with an 11 point victory. 

La Verne was led by Jaelyn Curley who had 20 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. Marissa Howell added 18 points off the bench shooting 6-12 from deep. Monica Garcia Silva added 17 points and 8 rebounds. 

The Leopards improved to 9-3 overall and 2-2 in SCIAC. The Beavers fell to 5-6 overall and 0-3 in SCIAC. 

The Leos take the court again on Wednesday, Jan 12., when they're set to host the Chapman Panthers.