Monday’s game versus Chapman was a harsh exclamation point to the recent woes of the Pomona-Pitzer women’s basketball team.

After bursting out of the gates with a promising 2-0 start to the season, the Hens have been shot back down to earth with a three game losing streak where they have been outscored by an average of 27.7 points per game.

Not all is looking bad for the Sagehens, however, as their last three games have all been against very strong programs, including Cal Baptist from the Division II NAIA. Unlike Division III programs such as Pomona, NAIA schools can recruit athletes.

"We have a pretty tough pre-season schedule that will help us get ready when conference games start," said forward Andrea Lievana ’04.

On Thursday, November 29, the Hens hit the road to take on the Lancers of Cal Baptist.

In a game plagued by turnovers, P-P fell 70-54. The Sagehens were forced into 39 turnovers while Cal Baptist had 26. The Lancers were driven by a stifling pressure defense that came up with an incredible 26 steals on the night.

Even with the turnovers, the Hens gave Cal Baptist a game fight. Forward Lindsay Hill ’04 led the way for P-P, pouring in a season high 21 points while snagging 9 boards and turning the ball over only once.

Center Tamara Zakim ’02 was right at Hill’s side with a solid 14-point, 10-rebound effort. In fact, on the night the Sagehens out-rebounded Cal Baptist 46-41.

On Monday, December 3, the Blue and Orange put up its 2-2 record against the 5-3 Chapman Panthers, a notoriously strong Division III team.

Early on, there was an obvious mismatch in the size and speed of the two squads.

Right out of the gates the Panthers took control of the game with their full court press. Throughout the game, Chapman scored easy buckets by getting steals and converting them into fast-breaks.

After falling behind 6-0, the Hens finally got on the board when Zakim scored on a sweet turn-around jumper in the lane.

However, Chapman continued to force a fast tempo with their press, and took a double-digit lead with 14:48 to go in the half.

Ultimately the Sagehens had no answer for either the inside or outside game of Chapman. Trailing 21-12 with 12:19 left in the first half, the Hens tried to stop the Panthers’ inside game by switching to a 2-3 zone defense. But this opened up Chapman’s outside shooters, who expanded the lead to 28-12 and forced P-P back into man-to-man defense.

At the half the Sagehens trailed 50-28. Dominating the first half for Chapman was 6-1 sophomore center Caroline Jensen, who scored all 16 of her points in the half with an 8-9 shooting performance. When Pomona-Pitzer tried to shut her down, she kicked to the guards who shot 4-7 from three-point range in the half.

For Pomona-Pitzer, Zakim kept the offense alive, scoring 11 of her game-high 17 points in the opening 20 minutes.

In the second half, Chapman’s guards continued to dominate en route to the 92-53 victory. On the night the Panthers out-assisted Pomona-Pitzer 25-7, doubled their rebound total, 44-22, and sank 9-18 from behind the arc. Guard Melissa Bynon put on a show for the Panthers, making 4-6 three pointers on the night en route to 16 points.

Four players scored in double figures for Chapman, while only one, Zakim had over nine points for the Sagehens. And for the second straight game, P-P had more turnovers (19) than assists.

"We didn’t take enough outside shots [against Chapman]. We tried to force the ball inside and ended up turning it over too much," said Lievana.

Hill was Pomona-Pitzer’s second-leading scorer with nine points, and also chipped in with six rebounds, two assists, and two blocks.

"We’re still learning to run the offense. In the first two games we didn’t run the offense well but still won versus weaker teams. This game we focused on running our plays more to prepare for conference games," said Lievana.

One pleasant surprise for the Sagehens was newcomer Betty Chernak ’05. Chernak, the team’s starting point guard, has led the team in minutes played each of the last two contests while also leading the team with seven steals over that span.

"We are a young team and need to continue to improve our ball-handling," said head coach Kathy Connell. "We have made significant improvements cutting down turnovers and unnecessary fouls and we’re running the offense better."

The Hens feature one freshman and two sophomore starters while starting only one senior, Zakim. In comparison, Chapman started three seniors and featured a squad of 14 compared to P-P’s nine.

On Friday, the Sagehens host Holy Names College, an NAIA team from Oakland, CA.

"We’re playing a tough preseason. With such a young team we’re just hoping to improve for SCIAC," said Connell. "This year our conference should be interesting. Everyone has a young team and have lost a lot of players to graduation."

Pomona-Pitzer opens up SCIAC play on January 8, when it plays host to Whittier College.