They did not want to talk about it and for good reason. No one would want to spend a Friday night recounting how an 11 point lead evaporated over seven and a half minutes and turned into a five point loss. A second half collapse that stunned this writer must have seemed like a nightmare to the Pomona-Pitzer women’s basketball team, whose hopes of a SCIAC championship bounced on the sideline with ten seconds remaining against a resilient and scrappy Whittier team. How different did Pomona-Pitzer play at that game’s end than they did during their wonderful 77-74 victory against former conference leader Redlands?

Andrew Nuibe Point gaurd Meghan Gould '01 sets up the offensive against Whittier.

How disturbingly similar was the lack of response to Cal Lutheran’s runs in their 66-51 loss? Last week’s performances for the Hens beg the question: will the real Sagehens please stand up, please stand up? Let’s hope that the Cal Lutheran game did not provide the answer or the reeling Pomona-Pitzer squad is going to be embarrassed tonight against SCIAC leader CMS.

The Sagehens started their four-game stretch against SCIAC’s elite with an excellent performance at the University of Redlands. Against Redlands, playing in a hostile arena, the Hens shot 50 percent while stifling a potent Redlands attack. In contrast, at home against Whittier the Hens managed to shot a paltry 34 percent while at Cal Lutheran the Hens turned the ball over 30 times. In each game, Pomona-Pitzer gave up runs to tie or take the lead, but when Redlands tied the score at 69, Sojourner Howe PI ’01 answered with a three-pointer. No such answer was available against Whittier and Cal Lutheran. Instead the Hens responded with hurried shots and turnovers. "We have a tendency to panic a little bit when a team makes a run," explained Jamie Guenthoer ’03. The Sagehens will have to find the composure that they had against Redlands ,when each Redlands run was met with a run of their own, or tonight’s game will mirror the last CMS rout.

The Redlands game was a great performance. The Hens started the game well and jumped out to a 34-26 halftime lead. Gre’Juana Dennis ’03 explained, "Everyone had clear concise goal and we were relaxed." In the second half momentum switched rapidly as Redlands would narrow the lead before Pomona-Pitzer extended it again. A Howe trey gave the Hens a 72-69 lead that they would not relinquish. Jaeda dos Santos PI ’03 pulled down an offensive rebound in the closing seconds ending any chance of a Redland’s comeback.

Howe led the Sagehen attack with three threes and 22 points. Dennis scored 16 points on an efficient 8-14 shooting with four assists and zero turnovers. Maya Jones ’01, limited by foul trouble, scored 13 points and grabbed four rebounds. The Sagehens dished out 24 assists with Meghan Gould ’01 leading the way with seven. Dos Santos played a well-rounded game with nine points, six assists and five rebounds.

Any momentum gained in the Hens’ victory against Redlands did not last until the Whittier game. Perhaps most disappointing about the loss is that it wasted an excellent team defensive performance. As bad as the Hens shot, they forced the Poets to shot worse, keeping the Poets under 30 percent in the second half. Numerous times Whittier did not even manage to shoot at all. Dos Santos started the second have with two consecutive steals, and Jones and Dennis tallied four apiece. Jones added a couple of blocks. Numerous times Whittier settled for awkward off-balance shots in the face of such intense defensive pressure. The Poets went seven minutes without points and did not score a field goal until there was 12:12 left in the game.

During their defensive clampdown the Sagehens had their own difficulties scoring, but still led 41-33. Over the next four minutes they stretched the lead to 48-37 getting a couple of much needed baskets from freshmen Lindsay Hill and Andrea Leviana. Suddenly, with just under eight minutes remaining the trickle of balls falling into the Sagehens’ net dried up. After the Poets knocked down a couple of baskets and received a couple of favorable calls, the Hens suddenly faced a one-point deficit. Unfortunately, at this point Pomona-Pitzer lost their composure and failed to score just once more to tie or take the lead. The last chance at a tie ended when Howe stepped out of bounds with ten seconds remaining.

The game was not lost on that poor possession, however, and the offensive problems started long before the late game drought. "We were never in control, not even in the first half," stated Dennis. That lack of control showed up on the statistics sheet as the Hens had 19 turnovers (12 in the second half) and only eight assists. A lack of penetration led to a paltry ten offensive rebounds. Howe somewhat infamously led the Hens with 11 points and 10 rebounds, but connected on only five of 19 shots while turning the ball over five times. Jones and Gould scored 10 points each.

The offensive problems disappeared briefly against Cal Lutheran. Fired up with the opportunity to finally beat the Regals at home, the Sagehens opened up leads of 13-2 and 21-12. Pomona-Pitzer used crisp cuts and quick ball movement to score against an aggressive Cal Lutheran defense. Then Cal Lutheran made a run to tie the game and the Sagehen’s offensive became lethargic. "We stopped moving without the ball and everyone waited for someone else to do something," said Guenthoer. Cal Lutheran opened the second half with a 14-2 run, extending their lead to 14. The Hens closed the gap to eight or nine points, but "our chances comeback ended because we made a lot of unforced errors," said Leigh Ferrin ’02. Due to 30 turnovers and a large offensive rebounding deficit, the Sagehens attempted 20 less field goals than Cal Lutheran. Thus Cal Lutheran stayed one game back in the standing and left the Sagehens with a 3-5 SCIAC record.

Guenthoer returned from a three- game absence to lead Pomona-Pitzer with 13 points and eight rebounds. Howe scored a dozen points on 50 percent field goal shooting. Jones shot 5-7 from the field for 10 points to go with her seven rebounds.

In case, dear reader, you have missed my hints, I remind you that the Sagehens battle Sixth Street nemesis CMS at Voelkel Gymnasium tonight at 7:30pm.