THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – On Senior Night, Cal Lutheran women's basketball earned its signature win of the season, handing first-place Whittier its first conference loss in front of a home crowd on Saturday evening. Janna Holley scored a career-high 25 points as the Regals (17-6, 9-5 SCIAC) took down the Poets (19-3, 13-1 SCIAC) 77-71.
The Regals celebrated their seniors before the game, honoring Aliya DiMuro, AL'ynnay Godfrey, Karina McMillan, Alexa Greenwood, Sara Mills, and Isabella Favazzo.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Regals held the Poets scoreless for the first four minutes as both teams settled in. After the Poets got on the board with a three, Amaya Charles answered during the next possession to make it 7-3. The two teams traded jabs for the rest of the quarter. Natalie Villamor hit a tough shot in traffic at the buzzer to give the Regals a slight 16-13 advantage.
Free throws from McMillan and Holley midway through the second quarter extended the Regals' lead to seven points, 20-13. Getting to the line was a huge part of Holley's success, as she finished a perfect 8-8 from the stripe.
The Poets made up ground during the rest of the quarter, cutting the Regals' lead back down to three at halftime, 34-31.
At the 8:36 mark of the third quarter, the Poets claimed their first lead of the contest. The Poets held the Regals to 27.8% from the floor and 0-8 from three in the frame. Heading into the final quarter, the Regals trailed 56-50.
Alline Ballard scored the first bucket of the fourth and Greenwood sunk a big-time three-pointer at 8:27 to cut their deficit to three, trailing 58-55. A few possessions later, DiMuro tied it up at 59-59 after corralling an offensive rebound and hitting the second-chance layup.
With five minutes to go and trailing by one point, Coach Kelli DiMuro called a timeout. After coming out of the huddle, the Regals took complete control in crunch time. Holley knocked down an elbow jumper that sparked a game-defining 12-4 run which she capped off herself with stepback three.
Two free throws from the Poets made it a 73-69 Regals lead with 1:22 to play. The Poets forced a crucial stop, but Holley delivered a win-sealing steal with 33 seconds on the clock and converted both free throws to make it a six-point game. By the time the buzzer sounded, Gilbert Arena was sent into a frenzy.
THE NUMBERS
- Janna Holley: 25 PTS, 3 STL, 8-12 FG, 8-8 FT
- Alline Ballard: 12 PTS, 4 REB
- Karina McMillan: 11 PTS, 5 REB, 3 STL
- Alexa Greenwood: 10 PTS, 4 REB
- Aliya DiMuro: 7 PTS, 8 REB, 3 AST
FROM HEAD COACH KELLI DIMURO
"I always say that Senior Night is a magical night," said DiMuro. "Everyone's selfless, they do it for each other, and they really came out tonight ready to go. We were clean on both ends of the floor and it showed with our biggest win of the season. Now it's about taking it into each of our next games."
FROM JUNIOR GUARD JANNA HOLLEY
"First of all, on Senior Night we wanted to get this win for all our seniors," said Holley. "We were so close the last time we played Whitter. We knew we needed to dig deep and that's what we did today… My mid-range shot was working and my teammates helped me out all game like they do all season. On defense and offense, setting me screens, getting me open, everything,"
UP NEXT
With two games left in the season, the Regals are tied for second place in the SCIAC with Chapman, both teams owning a 9-5 conference record. The Regals take on Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on the road on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m.
