THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - The Cal Lutheran women's basketball team welcomed Whittier College to Gilbert Arena for its first Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) matchup at home on Saturday afternoon where the Regals came away with a wire-to-wire 70-55 victory.

CLU jumped out an early lead and never looked back as Tatiana Dunlap, Grace Derksen and Sofia Cruz all knocked down three-pointers in the opening minutes of the game.

With a 23-12 lead after the first quarter, Dunlap stayed hot with another three-pointer to extend the lead and Janelle Porter got into the action with a pair of free-throws followed by a made jumper to put the Regals ahead 31-18.

Derksen drained another three before the break and Jessica Salottolo knocked down a field goal to give CLU a 36-21 lead at halftime.

In the second half, the Poets made a run to cut the Violet and Gold lead to 11, but the Regals pulled away shortly thereafter with a run of their own.

Leading 59-46, CLU scored 11 unanswered points to put the game away, highlighted by Derksen's third triple of the game and back-to-back and-one conversions from Dunlap and Cruz.

Dunlap finished with 16 points to lead all players while Haley Hodgson notched a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Cruz also reached double figures for CLU with 10 points and distributed a game-high five assists. Cruz and Dunlap also finished with a game-high of three steals apiece. Salottolo and Derksen added nine points and Porter finished with eight.

The Poets were led by 14 points and 11 rebounds from Ana Youngblood while Emilee Dy was the only other Poet in double figures with 12. The Regals limited Whittier to just 29.3 percent (17-for-58) from the field.

Cal Lutheran (7-5, 3-0 SCIAC) continues SCIAC action at home when they take on Chapman this Wednesday, Jan. 11 at 7:00 p.m.

Box Score: CLU 70, WC 55
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