LA VERNE – Lindsey Foster poured in 26 points – including five straight baskets in the second half that erased a 50-42 deficit – but a pair of late Pomona-Pitzer second chance buckets hurt the University of La Verne women's basketball team as it lost 62-61 on Thursday night at the Franz Athletic Court.
La Verne falls to 8-7 in conference play and drops to 5th place in the SCIAC standings. But with a win on Saturday against Chapman and a Cal Lutheran loss to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, the Leopards will earn a berth to the SCIAC Postseason Tournament by virtue of a better record against third-place Redlands. The teams will have had identical records against first-place CMS and second-place Chapman in this scenario.
Foster had a chance to win the game at the buzzer. She got the ball at the top of the free throw circle but could not connect, and Pomona-Pitzer's Jenn Okonkwo secured the rebound as time expired.
But if it weren't for Foster, the Leopards wouldn't have had the last shot. After an Alaina Woo 3-pointer extended the Sagehens' lead to eight at the 10:26 mark in the second half, Foster led a one-woman charge to get the Leopards back in the game. The senior converted three fast break opportunites – all of them assisted by Tiffany Hicks – and hit a couple of midrange jumpers to cut the deficit to put the Leopards back on top, 52-51.
But with La Verne holding on to a 58-55 lead with about four minutes left, Okonkwo cleaned up her own miss and had a putback to cut the lead to two. Two minutes later, Kacie Hitomi converted another second chance opportunity following an Amelia Hummel offensive rebound.
Those baskets proved to be the difference as time ran out on the Leopards.
In addition to her 26 points, Foster hauled in 10 rebounds to register her sixth double-double of the season.
Emily Myers had eight points and five rebounds to pace the Leopards in the first half and finished with 12 and nine.
Hicks dished out a season- and career-high nine assists.
Okonkwo and Woo led the way for the Sagehens. Okonkwo finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds, and Woo added 19 points with four 3-pointers.
La Verne hosts Chapman on Saturday at 7 p.m. in a must-win game. Prior to the tip-off, the Leopards will honor their seniors in their final regular season game.
