WHITTIER, Ca. – The UC Santa Cruz women's basketball team dropped a 51-50 contest to the Whittier Poets on Friday evening. The Banana Slugs were in the driver seat for the majority of the contest but a late bucket from the Poets sealed the Whittier win but just a point in the Southern California road game. UC Santa Cruz was led by Claire Galbo who led all scorers with 20 points and eight rebounds while Bria Tate recorded 11 points and five boards. Alexa Litchev also performed well, ending the night with nine points and eight rebounds. The Slugs are now 1-2 on the young season with their next contest tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. at La Verne.
 
How It Happened
The Poets struck first with back to back baskets to take a 4-0 lead but two free throws from Alexa Litchev and two points from Katie Busch tied the game at 4-4 with 5:57 left in the first. Whittier was able to close out the first quarter on a 9-4 run to go up 13-8 heading into the second quarter.
 
The Poets extended their lead to double digits at 18-8 with a quick 5-0 run to start the second quarter but UC Santa Cruz got to work, outscoring Whittier 14-8 with baskets from Sarah Reuter, Bria Tate, Danielle Tyner, Claire Galbo, and Alexa Litchev, closing the gap to 26-22 at the halftime break. Out of the halftime break, UC Santa Cruz got off to a quick start as Claire Galbo made a free throw before Alyssa Jackson hit a shot from downtown to cut the Whittier lead to 29-26. The Slugs were able to take a five point lead as Litchev, Tate, and Galbo all assisted in an 8-2 run to put UCSC on top 36-31 with 5:13 left in the third. UCSC led by as much as six after a layup from Danielle Tyner, but the Poets used a 7-2 run to close the gap to 42-39 in favor of the Slugs heading into the fourth quarter.
 
UC Santa Cruz held onto their lead for nearly the entire fourth quarter, only trailing the Poets in the final 11 seconds of action. Whittier struck first with two free throws in the fourth, but six straight points put UCSC on top at 47-41 with 5:44 left in the contest. Whittier cut it to three points at 47-44 but Claire Galbo responded with a shot from beyond the three point arc to regain the six point edge with 3:34 on the clock. Whittier was able to go on a 5-0 to cut the UCSC lead to 50-49 with 2:05 left to play. After the two teams traded empty possessions, Whitter caused a turnover and managed to go inside for the layup to take a 51-50 lead with 11 seconds left in the contest. UC Santa Cruz couldn't find the answer as they missed a layup and a jumper in their final possession, just narrowly falling to the Poets 51-50.