SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — The Whittier College women’s basketball team pulled away midway through the second half and went on to a 68-54 nonconference victory over Lawrence University on Saturday at the UC Santa Cruz Classic.
Priscilla Rodriguez scored 14 points and Ana Youngblood grabbed 12 rebounds to pace the Poets (3-3).
Freshman forward Danelle Buck picked up her first career double-double for Lawrence (0-7) with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Fanita Robins came off the bench to add 12 points for the Vikings.
It was a see-saw first half, and Lawrence pulled out to a 19-12 advantage. The Poets came back with a 17-3 run to take a 29-22 lead, but Lawrence answered back. The Vikings finished the first half on a 12-4 run, and Buck’s jumper at the buzzer tied the game at 34-34 at the break.
The Poets scored the first seven points of the second half to grab a 41-34 edge with 16:09 remaining. After a Buck layup, Whittier got a layup from Erica Houston and back-to-back 3-pointers from Dannika Navales-Lugt to take a 49-36 lead with 11:12 left.
A layup from Kassidy Rinehart and a pair of free throws from Natalie Kramer cut Whittier’s lead to 49-40 with 10:02 left. That’s as close as the Vikings would get, and Whittier would go on to lead by as many as 16 points.
Lawrence wraps up play at the Santa Cruz Classic by playing the host school on Sunday.