WHITTIER, Calif. - After a pair of tough Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) contests, the Cal Lutheran women's basketball team dug deep and bounced back with a 77-75 overtime road win at Whittier tonight, outscoring the Poets 9-7 in the extra period at the Graham Athletics Center, to return to the win column.
The only time that the Regals led during regulation came in the first 10 minutes of play and they would not have the upper hand again until overtime when it made all the difference.
Trailing 44-32 at the intermission, the Regals came out strong in the second stanza, outscoring WC 36-24. The final shot of the half sailed through the net at the buzzer for a Jessica Salottolo three-pointer to force free basketball as the teams finished the 40 minutes tied at 68-68.
Sofia Cruz scored five of the nine OT points, including a layup through a foul that turned into an and-one, which she finished off for the winning buckets with 54 ticks to play. Salottolo and Haley Hodgson each added to the overtime total as well.
Pacing all players in the game was Chelsea Jacoby who scored a career-high 32 points, surpassing her 28 against the Poets last year, as one of four Regals to reach double figures. Cruz and Salottolo poured in 16 and 12 points, respectively, while Katy Lindor added 10. Jacoby also led the Violet and Gold with nine rebounds, one ahead of both Lindor and Salottolo as they all flirted with double-doubles. Natalie Stone provided five assists and Jacoby tallied four.
Whittier (7-9, 3-5 SCIAC) was led by Priscilla Rodriguez with 21 points as the only Poets player to reach double figures. Down the stretch she was 5-for-6 in free-throws to keep the host school ahead until the final buzzer. Kaylah Alexander finished with a game-high 12 rebounds for WC.
Cal Lutheran (11-6, 6-2) is back at home on Saturday, Jan. 31 to host Caltech as part of a split doubleheader with the men's team. The Regals and Beavers will tip-off at 2:00 p.m. at the Gilbert Arena followed by the Kingsmen and Beavers at 4:00 p.m.
Box Score: CLU 77, WC 75 (OT)
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