SANTA CRUZ, CA - Leah Parrish controlled the paint. Ryane Ortiz lit up the Poets from the outside and the defense did the rest as the Slugs cruised to a 89-60 victory over the Whittier Poets.   Parrish, 12 points 6 rebounds, let the Poets know this was going to be a long night early. She quickly scored 4 points as the Slugs raced off to an 18-7 lead. Sarah Mackey, named the Hampton Inn Tournament MVP ably assisted Parrish, with 16 points and 6 blocks.  When the Poets, collapsed on Parrish and Mackey, Ortiz bombed away from the outside hitting 4 threes on her way to a team high 17 point night.

The Slugs raced off to a 44-33 half time lead behind the point guard play of Taylor Willis and Sarah Fitzgerald. One play by Willis brought the crowd to its feet as she hit the streaking Mackey with a pin point 30 foot pass. The Poets were able to put together runs twice cutting the second half lead to 11 points but this is a Slug team that can get scoring from a wide variety of sources. Trina Torres (9 points), Sarah Crane (5 points), Erin Joo (5 points) and Geena Giovannetti (11 points) all made key contributions to prevent a Poet comeback. Cristina Rimicci's long three-pointer wrapped a pretty bow on this Slug victory.

The Hampton All Tournament Team was announced as follows:

Katie Anslie– Puget Sound

Ashley Genie – Whittier

Leah Parrish – UC Santa Cruz

Gabby Zehref – St. Catherine

Tournament MVP

Sarah Mackey - UC Santa Cruz