After torching the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens Thursday, the Poet women’s basketball team will now face perhaps their toughest test of the year for the championship title against second-seeded California Lutheran University Regals at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Graham Athletic Center.
The Poet men’s basketball team, meanwhile, knocked off the fifth-seeded Sagehens Wednesday. They will head to Thousand Oaks tonight to take on the top-seeded Cal Lutheran Kingsmen at 7 p.m.
The Whittier women, led by SCIAC Offensive Athlete of the Year Rhe Nae Leach ’25, defeated the Sagehens 78-49 in front of a raucous home crowd of nearly 400 people. Leach scored 31 points on an efficient 11-for-17 shooting night, and came one rebound and one assist away from achieving the elusive triple-double.
Leach benefitted from an in-sync Poets squad up and down the lineup. Second-year point guard Yaneli Rosales ’27, who has made waves this year with her ability to facilitate to players like Leach and fellow First Team All-SCIAC selection Lorita Salloom ’25scored 15 points on 5-of-11 shooting and connected on a trio of three-pointers.
Likewise, the Poet men had strength in All-American candidate Aamari Smith ’25. Smith has finished the regular season as the Division III leading scorer with 27.7 points per game. He posted an impressive 25-6-7 line. However, the real key to Whittier's victory on Wednesday night might have been Chine Nwanevu ’26, a former teammate of Smith's at San Bernardino Valley College, who scored 19 points alongside eight rebounds.
The women's basketball team's incredible season continues tomorrow in their championship semi-finals match-up. Come cheer them on in person or stream the game live!
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