J&W Wildcats Best Beavers 70-61 in Up Tempo Battle

The energy of a well played game still hung in the air in Braun athletic center, as Caltech lost by nine to the visiting Wildcats of Johnson and Wales University, Denver. A great game with five different ties, and leads that were no larger than nine points, the Beavers battled to the very end and made light years of progress in their season. Opening the game with first basket, Tech served notice that they were going to be on task for the evening. The score volleyed back and forth from home to visitor for the entire first half, with the upper hand at the first buzzer going to the Wildcats. A five point margin blazed from the scoreboard as the Beavers headed to the locker room.

Energized by the chance to really take a good team to the mat, the Beavers were hot from the floor. Posting a .431 shooting percentage for the night, the Beavers worked the ball finding amazing shots, and converting when they needed to. Although the Wildcats sat in the driver's seat most of the second half, Caltech kept knocking on the door. Johnson and Wales got up five, Caltech answered and cut it to two. If the wildcats pushed 6 out, the Beavers got key defensive stops and scored to bring the game back within 4 points.

The newest addition to the Tech game plan was a level of patience fans hadn't seen yet this season. Working the ball and finding great shots was a new element for Tech, and worked like a charm. Their high shooting percentage came from running the offense for as much as 20-25 seconds of their shot clock and finding two foot baskets. Another unusual piece to the Tech surge was confidence that will serve the ladies well as the season progresses. Seeing opportunities to push ahead, Tech was more aggressive then they had been so far this season. More importantly, the new found confidence neutralized more than one Wildcat push to open the gap wider. Wildcat mistakes were often capitalized on, and many Johnson and Wales advances were answered with an equal statement on Tech's end of the floor.

With only 3:17 to go, the Beavers got as close as 1 point, before some well placed buckets by the wildcats held the line. A dose of ill timed turnovers led Tech to resort to fouls to force the wildcats to convert from the line, and much to the Beaver's dismay...Johnson and Wales did exactly what they needed to do, sinking their free throws.

In a night filled with new pieces to the Tech picture, five Beavers scored in double digit territory. Frosh Sarah Wright led the way for a team high of 16 points. Each of the starters have now taken their turn leading the scoring efforts, and tonight Wright took her spin on the scoring express. Hitting six of her eight shots, Wright was a hot hand both in transition and with her mid range touch. Teammate Erin Hoops added 13 to the total, with a trio of long range threes in her total.

In all six games this season, Caltech has had at least one player post a double double, and tonight the mark was turned in by Lisa Yee. Her 11 points and 14 rebounds were her 3rd in six games, and kept her average of 14 rebounds per game alive and well. Yee was all over the floor helping the Tech efforts with a bucket, a board, and she distributed the ball for six assists. Krissy Dahl put up 11 points and was a force in the paint with three blocks, bringing her season total to 17 in the early weeks of the year. Teri Juarez rounded out the Beavers box score adding 10 points of her own.

Caltech takes a needed break to focus on the task of final exams, and returns to the court on Monday the 14th in Fullerton, against HOPE International at 5pm. Then Tech closes out the first portion of the season at the Caltech CMS Holiday Classic with their first game at Claremont Mudd Scripps against Knox College on the 19th and Buena Vista College on the 20th before heading home for the winter break with their families. The Beavers will return to Braun on December 30th against Cal Maritime.

GO TECH!!!

BOXSCORE