Sabala scores 16 to lead Poets past Atheans

Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Whittier College women's basketball team used a 15-2 run at the midway point of the second half to put the game out of reach as the Poets got back on track with a 69-56 win over Claremont-M-S on Saturday evening.

Morgan Sabala scored a game-high 16 points and added seven assists to lead the Poets (11-6, 4-2 SCIAC) to their fourth conference win.

Whittier, who was held under 30 percent shooting from the field in a loss to Redlands on Thursday evening, finished the game shooting 51 percent from the floor. The Poets held a slight rebound advantage at 33-32.

"It was a great team effort all the way around," said head coach Brad Durchslag.

Kourtney Zilbert and Tina Merlino each added 14 points in the win.

Whittier got off to a fast start and opened a 9-2 lead through the first six minutes of the game but it was the Athenas (11-6, 2-4 SCIAC) who took a 34-30 lead into the intermission.

Whittier needed less than four minutes to erase their halftime deficit. Sabala connected on a three-pointer to give Whittier a 39-38 lead with just over 16 minutes to play.

WC never trailed again.

The Poets return to action on Thursday, January 28, as they hit the road to face Cal Lutheran at 7:30 pm.