WHITTIER– UC Santa Cruz fell 69-65 to Whittier to open a three-game SCIAC roadtrip on Thursday night.

There were two ties to start the game before the Poets got their offense going and built up a 25-10 lead after the first quarter. Whittier held a 44-24 lead at halftime before the Banana Slugs found their offense and roared back in the third quarter, when Celine Castaneda's layup started a 20-7 run for UC Santa Cruz. Alyssa Jackson hit a three-pointer to cap the run and put the Banana Slugs within 9 at 55-46 with 90 seconds left in the third quarter
 
The Banana Slugs continued to get back into the game in the fourth quarter. It took 20 seconds for Alyssa Jackson to find Amanda Inserra for a three-pointer to make the deficit 58-51. Both teams turned up the defense for the next few minutes setting up the end of the game. In the entertaining final minute, Litchev hit a pair of layups to cut the deficit to 65-62. After the Poets hit a pair of free-throws to put their lead back to five points, Uma Joshi hit a step-back three pointer to make it 67-65 with 2.7 seconds left. Whittier again hit a pair of free-throws for the final margin.
 
Ariel Anderson led the Banana Slugs with 15 points. Inserra scored 14 and Litchev added 10 points along with a team-high eight rebounds. Joshi had nine points on a season-high 3-7 from three-point shooting.
 
The Banana Slugs continue the roadtrip on Saturday afternoon when they play at La Verne.