THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The Cal Lutheran women's basketball team used stellar shooting from behind the three-point arc, making 13 triples, and grabbed a 95-81 over the La Verne Leopards Saturday night in their first game of Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play. Cal Lutheran improved to 4-1 on the season, 1-0 in the SCIAC, while La Verne dropped to 0-4 and 0-1.
Kayla Watterson led the way with 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting and hauled in 14 rebounds to pick up her first double-double of the season. She added four steals, four blocks and three assists. Natalie Ruhl added 16 points of her own with four assists.
Two more Regals scored in double-digits as Grace Derksen and Jozie Tangeman had 10 points apiece. Kiana Gray, Danielle Roumbos and Rylie Wada each added nine points. Gray added 14 rebounds and four assists.
The Violet and Gold shot 55 percent from the field. They made 13-of-28 three-point field goals and 14-of-18 free throws. They outrebounded the Leopards 48-30.
The Regals found their rhythm early in the first quarter with two quick baskets from Watterson and Gray in the first minute of the game. This forced a timeout from La Verne in an attempt to switch the momentum.
After an 8-2 Cal Lutheran run to start the game, the Leopards got back into the game to make the score 19-19. The Regals closed the quarter with an 8-2 run to take a 27-21 lead at the end of the first period.
Tangeman knocked down a three-point shot to get the scoring started for CLU in the second quarter. Ruhl drew two fouls to get herself to the free thrown line where she went 4-4 in the quarter. Derksen added a three-pointer of her own as well as a running jumper to get in on the scoring.
The Regals went 7-10 from three-point range and led by as much as 20 in the second quarter. Hot three-point shooting (10-18) in the first half and solid defense gave Cal Lutheran a 58-39 lead as the game went to halftime.
CLU continued their efficient shooting from behind the arc as Derksen hit her first shot three-point shot of the second half.
The Leopards cut the deficit to five points late in the third quarter with some impressive perimeter shooting of their own. La Verne shot 6-9 from three-point range in the third period to make the score 75-68 heading into the fourth quarter.
Watterson made a couple hard-earned shots in the paint and Wada knocked down a three to give the Regals an 11-point lead halfway through the fourth quarter.
The Violet and Gold outscored the Leopards 20-13 in the fourth quarter to solidify their 95-81 victory at home.
Clarissa Perez led the Leopards with 31 points. Alex Withers had eight rebounds and Bailey Kurahashi dished out four assists.
Cal Lutheran will be back inside Gilbert Arena Wednesday, Dec. 6 at 7 p.m., to take on the Occidental Tigers.
Box Score: CLU 95, LV 81
CLU Instagram: http://instagram.com/clusports#
Sport IG: @regals_basketball
CLU Twitter: https://twitter.com/clusports
Sport Twitter: @CLUwBasketball
CLU Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clusports
Hashtags: #clusports #ownthethrone #goregals #gokingsmen #theSCIAC #ncaad3
Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director; Jeff Rebello, Student Intern