BOX SCORE

WHITTIER, Calif. - Junior Sara Villanueva had a strong showing for the Lewis & Clark women's basketball team on Sunday evening, scoring a game-high 24 points in the teams 76-62 win over the Whittier Poets.

The 13th ranked Pioneers improve to a perfect 9-0 on the season. The Poets, a regional opponent, drop to 1-6 on the season.

Villanueva finished 10-13 from the floor, while picking up a team-high six assists and two steals. Senior Neva Hauser finished the night with 13 points and tied for a team-high eight rebounds. Kristina Williams, Margaret Dowling and Tayler Wang each pulled down eight boards, while Megan Spence collected seven.

Monica Salazar led the Poets with 13 points, while Brittany Aranda scored 10 points.

Villanueva knocked down the first basket of the game with 18:38 on the clock and the Pioneers never looked back. The Pioneers took advantage of several missed Poet shots and sophomore Kat Howe put the Pioneers head by 12 points with 11:51 remaining after knocking down a three pointer. Things continued to go the Pioneers way throughout the half, with Daron Dean handing the team its largest lead of the half, 22-8, with a layup.

With 2:55 remaining in the half, Villanueva hit consecutive free-throws to extend the Pios lead back to 14 points. Tanisha White cut the deficit to 32-23 for the Poets as both sides headed into the half.

The Poets hit an early basket out of the locker room, but Spence quickly responded for the Pios with a layup assisted by Villanueva. Lewis & Clark recaptured a 14 point advantage with 6:18 remaining after a Dowling layup that came to be after a Poet turnover and strong rebounding by the Pios.

Another Pioneer rebound setup Villanueva for a huge three-pointer to put the Pios ahead 65-49 with a little over five minutes remaining. The Pioneer bench played a solid role in keeping the Pioneer advantage late into the contest with back-to-back Jessica Rodriguez free-throws putting Lewis & Clark ahead 76-61 with 23 seconds to go. A Poet free-thrown in the closing seconds of the contest cut the Pioneers winning margin to 76-62.

The Pioneers out rebounded their opponents 53-24, while scoring 16 second chance points to the Poets five. The Pioneers also managed to score 20 points off of turnovers, while the Poets only managed 12.

The Pioneers remain in California for their next contest, taking on the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Monday, Dec. 19 at 2 p.m.