LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Katy Lindor scored a career-high 17 points while Chelsea Jacoby and Taylor Messick combined to score 24 more as Cal Lutheran ran away with a 71-59 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) victory over Occidental Thursday evening. Lindor scored 12 points in the first 20 minutes and CLU then used a 17-5 run to open the second half and cruised to its fifth league win of the year. The Regals also held Occidental to just 28 percent shooting from the floor and didn't allow a single Tiger to score in double-figures.
The first nine minutes were evenly played before Cal Lutheran rattled off a 16-4 run to break a 13-13 tie. Lindor got CLU going with a jumper and a pair of free-throws. Sofia Cruz would then come up with a steal on the following possession and feed Trianna Owen for a layup that put the Regals up by six. Following an Occidental basket, Lindor would drain a three-pointer to give CLU the 22-15 lead. Lindor would strike again on the next possession when Natalie Stone forced a turnover and found her on a pass for the fast-break layup. Jacoby would cap the Regals' surge with four free-throws to give CLU a 29-17 lead with 4:40 left to go in the first half.
The Regals would maintain a 10 point cushion for much of the final four minutes before Lindor struck once more as she hit a jumper with three seconds left and gave CLU a 33-22 lead at intermission.
Cal Lutheran kept the momentum going after halftime, breaking the game open for good with a 17-5 run to open the second half. Messick scored six of the first eight points of the run and Cruz and Jacoby would put CLU up 50-27 after each making two free-throws.
CLU would go on to lead by as many as 21 when Hayley Jensen sunk a pair of free-throws to make it 69-48 with 2:34 left to play before closing out its fifth win in the last seven conference games.
In addition to pouring 17 points, Lindor also led the Regals with eight rebounds. Jacoby was second on the team with 14 points while Messick had 10. Hayley Hodgson netted 10 points and five rebounds. Stone showed her versatility with a team-high six assists and four steals to go along with five rebounds.
Occidental (10-8 overall, 4-6 SCIAC) was led by Ashton Reid who scored a team-high nine points.
Cal Lutheran (9-9 overall, 5-5 SCIAC) will look to get above .500 in SCIAC play for the first time all season when it hosts Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 7:00 p.m. inside of Gilbert Arena.
Box Score: CLU 71 OXY 59
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