La Verne, CA - The University of La Verne women's basketball team welcomed Cal Lutheran to The Tents for first round SCIAC action.
The Leopards, the #1 seed in the conference tournament entered the game after receiving a myriad of honors, most notably, the coaching staff winning SCIAC Coaching Staff Of The Year. A #1 seed in the tournament for the first time in the history of the program, La Verne took control of the game early and never looked back. The Leopards jumped out to an early 12 point lead, fueled by fast break points and key defensive stops. The energy from the crowd in The Tents proved to be the 6th man, at the building was rocking and the Leopards were rolling. Facing the conference newcomer of the year, the Leopards neutralized her in addition to limiting the other scorers from being effective. The Leopards entered the intermission with a slight lead of 33-30 over Cal Lutheran.
Second-half action would start with La Verne going on a 13-3 run that would prove to be the nail in the coffin as La Verne cruised to the SCIAC championship game, winning by a final score of 72-57. Dejanee Gill led the Leopards with 19 points and 11 rebounds in the game. Chiara Brown and Dawson Bell each scored in double figures with 13 points and 15 points respectively. Head coach Jason Pruitt spoke about his team's preparation for moments like tonight. "Playoff basketball, you have to treat every possession like it's your last. That's what you work all season for, to get into the playoff games and you don't want to blow it. Tonight, we got off to slow start in the first half. It took us a while to find a groove. But just like dancing, once you can find the rhythm to stay on beat ...good things will happen. It took some time; we were finally able to turn the defense up a notch. I think that's one adjustment we wanted to make, getting up and pressuring them in the second half. We knew that going into the game that we can out-physical them, we can out-tough them and that was going to be the key to the game, and that's what we prepare to do!
