--Courtesy of California Lutheran Athletics--

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Cal Lutheran women's basketball (13-3, 5-2 SCIAC) took down Occidental (6-8, 1-4 SCIAC) on the road on Saturday evening, outlasting the Tigers 68-63 behind a clutch floater from Kaiya Mack and crucial defensive stops in the final seconds. Alline Ballard had a notable day, as she scored her 1,000th career point while dropping a 28-point double-double.

Occidental got off to a good start, opening a 14-8 lead with three minutes remaining in the first period. An offensive rebound and putback by Janna Holley followed by a jumper from Alana Brackett brought the Regals within three by the end of the quarter, 16-13.

Ballard got going offensively in the second, producing eight points, including her 1000th career point on a free throw, in the first 5 minutes of the quarter to give Cal Lutheran a 26-21 lead. Another Ballard bucket extended the Regals' lead to seven, their largest of the first half, before a basket from the Tigers in the final seconds sent Cal Lutheran into the break up 36-31.

The Regals scored eight of the first 10 points of the second half to increase their lead to 44-33 within a few minutes. Later, a layup from Sydney Heyn put Cal Lutheran up 12 with a minute remaining in the third period. Occidental managed a few points to head into the final 10 minutes down 54-47.

Another Ballard layup extended Cal Lutheran's lead back up to 11, but the Tigers went on an 8-0 run to get within three points. Occidental was able to tie the game at 59-59 at the midway point of the fourth quarter. With under a minute left, the Tigers hit a jumper, leaving the Regals up by one. After taking some time off the clock, Mack drove to the basket and converted a running bank-shot to keep a comfortable three-point lead. Occidental missed its ensuing shot attempt, but Cal Lutheran was called for a five-second violation when taking the ball out of bounds. The Tigers managed a couple more attempts to tie the game, but they all failed and Cal Lutheran escaped with a 68-63 win following some free throws by Holley to ice it.

Ballard put together a monstrous statline of 28 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and two steals. Holley scored efficiently with 16 points on 7/11 from the field.

 

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