By Cyanna Rosa

La Verne, CA - The University of La Verne women's basketball team hosted Lewis & Clark this afternoon. Right off the bat, Sophomore Leopard Marissa Howell found nothing but net to get the game started. The Leopards are known to keep the energy all game long and they did not disappoint this afternoon with nine three-pointers drained and a defense eager to win it all. 

Casey Kuramoto came off the bench halfway through the first quarter and made one exceptional appearance. The Leopard Guard, as well as guard Marissa Howell, continued to amaze behind the arch with Casey's four three-pointers in the first quarter. The Leopards lead 24-12 going into the 2nd quarter. 

Three-point shooter, Marissa Howell, dominated the second quarter with 12 points. The Leopards continued to press the Pioneers from both sides of the court, leading in rebounds and a halftime score of 40-24. 

The third quarter was one of the slowest in the game but Leopards Marissa Howell, Chiara Brown, and Jazzlyn Johnson scored on the Pioneers with a third-quarter score of 49-40. It came down to increased an shooting percentage for the Leopards to secure the lead in the fourth quarter.

Duplicating the first quarter, Marissa Howell drained a three-pointer to start up the fourth quarter. The Leopards scored thirty points in the quarter, only allowing eleven, leading to a Leopard win, 79-51. 

Head coach Jason Pruitt is wants his team to continue to improve each time they are on the court. "Tonight we just had a few too many of 'my bads' or 'my faults'.   That kind of adds up during the course of a game and we can't have that, especially as we prepare to start conference.  We just can't have those defensive breakdowns going into the third quarter.  We want to be with teams or ahead of them through our defense.  Tonight is a first for us from a team standpoint.  We shot 90% from the charity stripe, I'm proud of the ladies for focusing up.  When we are playing on top of our game, we are a very hard team to play.  When we are not on top of our game, we are very easy to defeat.  But that's what every coach says about their team.   We have had a lot of players miss the first half of the season, everyone has had to step into different roles and assume different responsibilities.  With the Christmas break coming up, hopefully, we will get the proper rest and relaxation that our mind and bodies will need to get through the second half of the season.  We are just thankful that we get to play the game that we love."

The Leopard women's basketball team plays at The Tents again tomorrow night, December 20th, at 7:30pm PST against Simpson University.