WALLA WALLA, Wash. -
Carly Martin scored a team-high 16 points,
Korin Baker added 14 points and five rebounds after a foul-plagued first half and the Whitman College women's basketball team took down UC Santa Cruz 67-51 in the final game of the Kim Evanger Raney Memorial Classic on Sunday at the Sherwood Center.
The win gave the Blues (2-0) the tournament title as Whitman and UCSC entered the game winners of their tourney openers. Following the tournament, Martin and Lindsay Drango garnered all-tournament honors with Baker named tournament Most Valuable Player.
Ariel Anderson and Alyssa Jackson did the work for the Banana Slugs (1-1). Anderson posted game highs of 20 points and eight rebounds, and Jackson added 17 points.
With scoring at premium, much of the first quarter was a gritty one to say the least. Pressure defense was on full display, but it were the Blues who held the early lead. With Whitman up a point, Martin drained a three pointer with just under three minutes to play to double up the score. She nailed another three pointer late in the period, but Ariel Anderson's driving layup cut the lead to 12-10 heading to the second quarter.
The Blues began to open the game up in the second quarter. Christiane Carlisle drained an early three pointer to extend the lead to 17-10, then Jordan Leith's jumper put the lead at nine points with 5:14 to play until halftime. Brianna Andrade's three pointer made it a double digit lead shortly after, a lead Whitman carried into the locker room.
The Banana Slugs briefly cut into the lead in a high scoring third quarter, but not before the Blues opened the period on a 9-0 run. Emmie Ogden and Martin hit from the floor, and Carlisle capped the run with a three ball to put Whitman up 39-20 with 5:48 to play. UCSC responded and made a living at the line in the quarter and, after back-to-back buckets from Anderson and Alexa Litchev, had cut the lead to seven points.
The Blues quickly pushed the lead back up to digits in the fourth quarter as the lead swelled to 21 points. Baker's basket with 3:57 to play put her team up 66-45 and all but sealed the win.
Whitman hits the road next weekend where it will play at Northwest University on Friday, Nov. 17 and against The Evergreen State College the following evening.
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