La Verne, CA -The University of La Verne women's basketball team hosted the Occidental Tigers for its final regular season home game.
The Leopards secured the #1 seed in conference play with tonight's win. The University of La Verne continues to make history by retaining its #22 ranking in the nation. The Leopards started the matchup with a Senior Night ceremony to commemorate all seniors' final regular season home game. La Verne got off to a great start making many runs to close off the game early. The Tigers tried to make a run in the second quarter but fell short with too many defining plays by the Leopards. La Verne won in a game-winner last match against Occidental; tonight was an important statement for the Leopards.
The University of La Verne won by a score of 71-53. The Leopards were led by senior Dejanee Gill, who had 24 points and 14 rebounds; she is third in rebounding as a guard in SCIAC play. Chiara Brown was a force inside with 24 points and four rebounds; she ranks second in field goal percentage in the conference. The Leopards had two other double-digit starters, Dawson Bell (10) and Marrissa Howell (10).
Head coach Jason Pruitt was very proud of his team and understands the importance of finishing strong. "Our goal has always been to get better every day. That's what we are striving to do, get better every day. Tonight our ladies showed a lot of heart. We played as a unit and matured as a basketball team. It's always interesting to see how a team will bounce back from a hard loss, I think they answered any questions about imploding after our first loss in two months. My staff and I are elated that we get to celebrate this accomplishment with our team, supporters, families, and the University. The atmosphere has been electric all season in the Tents. That's what has given us an extra edge, our supporters. We have goals in place that we talk about daily and tonight was just the first one on our list. Being the Conference Champion is a tremendous honor but the reality is we are a one-bid league on the women's side of the ball. Meaning if you don't win your conference tournament, you do not go dancing.Our conference is one of the toughest in the country. If you drop us in the middle of the country, we would go neck and neck with all of the top teams in the country. The only difference for us is location. It's easy to downplay the teams that you don't see on the regular or the games that start when they go to bed on the East Coast. Geographically the teams on West Coast are problematic. When it comes to getting Region 10 games, we have to fly. It's not as easy as jumping on the bus and going to get the games that you need for your strength of schedule. That's why our focus has always been to make it to the conference tournament. For us, it's back to practice. We now have to prepare to play a tough Redlands team on Saturday for their Senior Night. Thank God for this accomplishment and for giving us the ability to play the game that we love!"
The Leopards will travel to face Redlands University for their final matchup of the regular season Saturday, February 18, at 5 PM.
