After winning the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship, the women’s basketball team fell in the final of the first-ever SCIAC Post-Season Tournament Saturday, losing to to La Verne 79-51.
For the Tigers, it was a milestone season regardless of the outcome of the tournament. Under Head Coach Jaime Hoffman, the Tigers won their first conference championship since 1980 and set new single-season records for wins in conference and overall play. Senior guard Stacie Roshon entered the record books as the Tigers’ all-time leading scorer.
In Saturday’s tournament championship game at Rush Gymnasium, the lead changed 10 times and the score was tied four times during the first half, but in the second half the momentum turned in favor of La Verne, who ran away with a 79-51 victory.
La Verne took the momentum into the locker room as senior Melissa Raya sank a shot from well beyond the half-court line to give the Leopards a 28-25 advantage at the break. The Leos came back 15 minutes later with that same momentum, opening the second half with a 8-2 run and never looked back.
Raya had a game-high 22 points while Leopard teammate Trenecca Jones added a 20-point, 12 rebound double-double and Ashley Paul finished with 13. Lindsey Shiomi led all players with 11 assists.
La Verne shooters were on fire in the second half, posting a 61.5 field goal percentage, hitting 5 of 7 three-pointers, and going 17-for-21 at the free throw line. The ɫ offense struggled all night, shooting 29.6 percent from the field overall and hitting 35.7 percent on three-point field goals. Turnovers also hurt the Tigers as La Verne forced 18, leading to 23 Leo points.
The ɫ offense suffered another blow when, trailing by 19 points with 6:33 to play in regulation, ɫ junior sensation Brianne Brown fouled out.
In her final collegiate game, Roshon led the offensive charge for the Tigers as the only player in double figures with 21 points and six rebounds. Britinee Yasukochi was next in line with nine points, adding a team-leading four assists. Tiger transfers Asha Jordan and Brown each grabbed seven rebounds.
The Leos ended Occidental’s 11-game winning streak, with their overall record falling to 21-6. La Verne improves to 20-7 as they advance to the NCAA Division III playoffs.
