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La Verne freshman forward Aunisha Leffridge pushes past Occidental sophomore forward Mackenzie Bretz in the fourth quarter of the game Saturday at Frantz Athletic Court. The Leopards held the lead throughout the game, and defeated the Tigers, 73-64. / photo by Meghan Attaway
Jolene Nacapuy
Sports Editor
La Verne senior center Emily Myers put up a layup with less than three minutes left in the first quarter, to reach the 1,000-point club in the 73-64 win against the Occidental Tigers Saturday at Frantz Athletic Court.
Myers is the 10th player in the history of the University’s women’s basketball program to reach 1,000 career points.
“It feels really good. It feels good to know that my team was there by my side every step of the way, and it’s been a good four years in this program, and I wouldn’t change it for anything,” Myers said. “It’s now on my belt, but I’d rather just get the win than the achievement, but I’m still happy about it.”
Myers finished the game with eight points and nine rebounds.
“I was the assister for her 1,000 points, a buddy pass, and we work on that all year, and I was glad that I could be the one to feed that to her,” junior forward Noelle Cobb said. “She definitely deserves it.”
Though the Tigers came close to cutting the deficit, the Leopards managed to keep the lead throughout the game.
“We have been working on being really competitive and that translated to the game, and I think it’s a great symbol of how this team hasn’t given up all year,” head coach Julie Shaw said.
The team hit the court once again and defeated the Caltech Beavers, 73-57, Tuesday at Braun Athletic Center, for their first road win of the season.
As the Leopards went on a 12-2 run to end the second quarter, they held Caltech to just eight points. La Verne senior guard Shannon Irwin led the team with 22 points.
Myers finished with a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
The Leopards stretched the lead each chance they had, which left no chance for the Beavers to overtake them.
The team is now 4-10 in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play and 5-17 overall.
Against Occidental, Cobb put up a jump shot to extend the Leopards’ lead to 16, the largest of the quarter, with 7:40 left in the second, 28-12.
The Tigers sank back-to-back jumpers and a shot behind the arc, to get within seven, midway through the second quarter of the game, 28-21.
La Verne answered back, when Cobb and junior guard Erika Pagkalinawan put up shots to push the lead, 35-23, with less than a minute left in the second quarter.
Occidental had the last say of the half, as they managed to cut their deficit by eight, 35-28, heading into halftime, with a three-pointer by junior guard Erin Matsumoto.
“Going in, we were ready as a team. We had our word of the game, which was repetition, and we were just tired of losing,” Myers said.
Midway through the third quarter, Cobb made a fade away jumper, and junior guard Karli Kato hit a three, to extend La Verne’s 15-4 run.
The Tigers were held to just nine points in the third, as the Leopards headed into the fourth, up 20 points, 57-37.
Irwin and Cobb started off the fourth quarter with a layup, as they continued to extend La Verne’s lead.
Pagkalinawan found Cobb open in the paint for a layup, to give La Verne a 23-point lead, 65-42, with 6:35 in the fourth quarter.
This was the Leopards largest lead of the game.
Occidental’s momentum started to kick in, as they scored consecutive jumpers to get within 15, midway through the fourth quarter.
With the two minutes left in the fourth, Cobb scored La Verne’s final shot of the game, with the assist of sophomore guard Brianna Bishop, 73-54.
Noelle scored a team-high 28 points.
The Tigers drew foul after foul in the last minute of the game, to cut the Leopards’ lead, though it was not enough, as La Verne sealed the win.
Shaw said the team has to be more competitive in the paint and work on little mistakes and basic fundamentals.
The Leopards swish back into action at 7 p.m. Saturday at Rains Center in Claremont to face the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens for their last road game of the season.
Jolene Nacapuy can be reached at jolene.nacapuy@laverne.edu.