Claremont, Calif. (January 27, 2014) This past week in Sagehens Athletics saw the Men’s Swimming and Diving and Men’s Basketball teams both extend their winning streaks to eight, while this coming week will see the spring sports get underway with Softball and Women’s Water Polo opening their seasons on Saturday.
Basha Brulee-Wills ’17 returned from an injury to score a career-high 23 points against La Verne on Saturday (photo by Paul Messana ’17).
Men’s Swimming and Diving improved to 8-1 on the year and 5-0 in the SCIAC by defeating Redlands 179-115 on Saturday, marking the program’s first win over the Bulldogs since the 1998-99 season. The Sagehens opened with a win in the medley relay in 1:34.89, missing the school record by only two-tenths of a second, as Kyle Dalrymple ’17 (breaststroke) and William Thorson ’16 (butterfly) contributed to the near-record time.
The Sagehens dominated the distance events, as Andrew Wright ’16 won the 1000 (10:13.32) and also broke five minutes in the 500 (4:58.38), to lead the way to a 1-2-3 finish in both events. Devon Kennedy ’16 added a third-place finish in the 1000. Dalrymple won both breaststroke events, coming in under a minute again in the 100 (59.29) to lead a 1-2-3 finish and also took the 200 in 2:13.51.
The Sagehens Swimming and Diving team improved to 5-0 in the SCIAC (8-2 overall) with a 191-107 win. The Sagehens are still perfect against Division III competition, as its only losses on the year were close defeats to nationally ranked Division II programs Cal Baptist (eight points) and Alaska-Fairbanks (five points).
The meet started with an upset of sorts as the Sagehens “B” team edged out the “A” team in the 200-yard medley relay, with Cayla Nishizaki ’17 swimming the anchor leg. Dawn Barlow ’16 added a win in the three-meter diving event, finishing with 212.60 points.
Men’s Basketball extended its winning streak to eight games with a pair of convincing home victories, defeating Caltech 84-63 on Wednesday and La Verne 78-59 on Saturday. Xavyr Moss ’14 had a strong performance against La Verne with 13 points, shooting 3-5 from three, while Nicholas Nordale ’17 chipped in with 12.
Women’s Basketball closed out on a 16-2 run to defeat Caltech 68-62 on Thursday, but then fell in heartbreaking fashion to La Verne in overtime on Saturday (68-65) after never trailing in the second half. Basha Brulee-Wills ’17 had a career-high 23 points and nine rebounds against La Verne, after missing the Caltech game (and the second half of last weekend’s Occidental game) with an injury. Ruth Shapiro ’15 had several big plays in the late comeback against Caltech, hitting a three-pointer to cut the Beavers lead to three, and twice feeding Amelia Hummel ’16 for lay-ups, the second of which came after a steal on the perimeter with a minute to play.
Women’s Water Polo, led by SCIAC Player of the Year Alyssa Woodward ’15, opens its season this weekend at Cal Baptist’s tournament. The Sagehens will also feature goalie Ahsha Earwood ’17, and two Pitzer sisters on the team in Carter Grant ’15 and Hope Grant ’17.
Softball, led by outfielder Ashley Morello ’15, opens at home against Azusa Pacific on Saturday, while newcomer Eden Griffen ’17 will be a key contributor to the pitching staff this season.
To keep up to date with all of the action from Sagehens Athletics, follow us on line at www.sagehens.com on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sagehens or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/sagehens (@Sagehens).
This Week’s Schedule
Home Events In Bold
Wednesday, Jan. 29
Men’s Basketball at Redlands, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 30
Women’s Basketball at Redlands, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 1
Swimming/Diving at Whittier, 11 a.m.
Softball (H) vs. Azusa Pacific, 12 p.m.
Baseball (H) – Alumni Game, 1 p.m.
Women’s Water Polo vs. Cal State Northridge, 1:30 p.m. – at Cal Baptist
Men’s Basketball at Cal Lutheran, 5 p.m.
Women’s Water Polo vs. Concordia (Irvine), 6:30 p.m. – at Cal Baptist
Women’s Basketball at Cal Lutheran, 7 p.m.
