by Amanda Egan
News Editor
Women’s basketball won two out of three games during the past week to finish the 2003-2004 season strong with an overall winning record of 16-9.
“We had a successful season in terms of wins and losses, but we did not reach our main goal of winning back-to-back SCIAC championships,” head coach Julie Kline said. “We did prove we are very capable of getting this done, by defeating each team in our conference at least once.”
La Verne closed out their season Wednesday night with a bang, defeating Cal Tech, 61-15.
The win left the women in sole possession of third place in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
“To be in the top three is a good accomplishment,” senior Lisa Mila said.
Senior stand-out Sydni Myrick dominated play against the Beavers contributing on offensive and defensive scoring 15 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and blocking four shots.
“It was good for us to end our season on a win,” Mila said.
Sophomore Audy Macdonald put 17 points on the board to add to the win.
La Verne was also triumphant at Occidental on Monday night after fighting for an overtime victory that put them on top, 61-53.
Junior Kourtney Hicks scored 18 points for the Leopards and senior Denae Howell added 17.
Myrick led the team in rebounds with 12.
La Verne fell to visiting Cal Lutheran on Feb. 20 in the Supertents, 70-60.
The Leopards struggled early in the game, trailing the Regals by 20 at the half.
La Verne entered the court energized in the second half of play, rallying back to tie the game at 52.
With eight minutes remaining, La Verne was unable to continue their persistence on offense and finished 10 points short of a win.
Myrick produced an abundance of offense for La Verne, contributing 30 points. She was successful all over the court earning nine rebounds and four blocked shots.
Macdonald supplied the Leopards with 15 points.
“We are losing a very talented senior class this year, they played key roles in our success over the past few years,” Kline said.
The Leopards are graduating three talented seniors this season including Howell, Myrick and Mila.
“Our last game was really sad when they were calling our names at the end,” Mila said.
La Verne finishes the year with a positive outlook for next season.
“We are returning a strong base for next year, which will provide a tremendous amount of experience going into next season,” Kline said. “The coaching staff is heavily involved in recruiting efforts to complement the returnees we do have and add depth to our roster.”
