by Ryan Sones
Staff Writer
Tuesday night, the field of battle was the Supertents, as the University of La Verne women’s basketball team easily annihilated Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) adversary Cal Lutheran (11-8 overall) by 18 points, 72-54.
The commanding role was led by senior center Katie Miner as she rhythmically scored 24 points (11-17 field goals) and showcased a rebounding seminar with 15 boards.
“The game felt good and we had good communication. The win showed us that we can come back and beat anyone in the second round of SCIAC. The girls all put their heart in and behind the game and that’s what we needed,” said Miner.
Co-commanding with Miner was freshman floor general forward Lori Johnson, cashing in with 19 points and withdrawing 13 rebounds of her own.
Also adding her talents was junior guard Alicia Gibson tallying 12 points to the task.
Last Friday the Leopards took on Redlands at home.
Redlands came out with the full-court press from the first few minutes of the game, catching the Leopards off guard initially as the Bulldogs quickly went up, 11-6.
La Verne quickly extinguished the Bulldog run and ignited their own fire with 11 unanswered points and a score of 15-13. With the efforts of sophomore guard Jennifer Spring, who went 6-7 from the floor with 15 points and 11 rebounds, it was evident that it was going to take more than a few puppies to take down the Leopards.
“The ladies prepared a lot better than the first time we met with Redlands earlier in the season. They are finally playing at their level,” said head coach Julie Kline.
Both teams came out of halftime matching each other’s shot and two minutes into the second half the score was still 47-39, ULV.
Outside shooting by Gibson, who could find nothing but the bottom of the nylon (3-4 outside the three-point arch and 15 points on the night) teamed with the driving force of Johnson (11 points and seven rebounds) was not to be reckoned with by the Redlands full-court press.
“The game went really well but we did come out pretty flat. It was really great to see all five of our starters get into the double digits. Redlands came out a lot tougher than in the previous meeting, but then again SCIAC is always tougher the second time around,” said Gibson.
Rounding out the La Verne attack were Miner, and guard Kelly Perkins who combined for nearly half of the games scoring with 29 points. Perkins directed traffic with five assists and 14 points as Miner was big at the backboard pulling down the leather 12 times throughout the course of the game.
“We really came out flat from the double overtime game that we lost earlier in the week. I think that can be expected because we really put a lot into that game, but with Redlands, in the end we came out on top once we found the pace to play at,” said Miner.
With 2:35 left in the game, Redlands was forced to foul La Verne with time running out and the score at 61-50. The momentum had turned in La Verne’s favor, and it looked as if it was going to stay that way the rest of the game.
The final score was 69-51. ULV’s SCIAC record is 5-3 and 9-11, overall.
The women’s next game is at Whittier College tonight at 7:30 pm.
