LA VERNE, Calif.—The University of La Verne used huge first and fourth quarters to earn a 79-51 win over visiting Lewis & Clark College women's basketball on Monday afternoon at The Tents. 
 
THE BASICS
La Verne 79, Lewis & Clark 51
(Lewis & Clark 1-10) 
(La Verne 8-1) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
La Verne outscored the Pioneers by 12 in the first quarter and 19 in the fourth, on their way to their fifth-straight victory. 
 
Pioneers junior Natalie Elstone put together a career performance for the second-straight game. Elstone posted a team and career-best 19 points on 8-16 shooting from the field. She tacked on three rebounds and three assists. 
 
Fellow junior Charlotte Carroll recorded a career-high 17 rebounds and tacked on 13 points for her seventh career double-double. 
 
Karli Mukai chipped in nine points and freshman Emily Newton added a career-high seven points on 2-5 shooting. 
 
La Verne sophomore Marissa Howell went off for a career-high 29 points on 9-25 shooting. Casey Kuramato was the only other Leopard in double-figures, as Kuramato posted 12 points. Seven La Verne players finished with six or more points in the contest. 
 
The hosts jumped out to a 5-0 lead, before Elstone drained a 3-pointer to put the Pioneers on the board. La Verne followed with a 10-0 run to extend their advantage to 15-3 with 3:56 to go in the first quarter. The Leopards extended their advantage to 24-12 after one and took a 40-24 lead into halftime. 
 
Lewis & Clark turned the tides in the third quarter and mounted a run to get back into the game. After an early 5-3 run by the Leopards extended their lead to 18, Lewis & Clark went on a 6-0 run with Elstone and Carroll combining for all six points. La Verne answered with four-straight points, only for Carroll to hit back-to-back baskets and Mukai added a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 49-40. Lewis & Clark would have three more possessions to cut the deficit further, but ultimately ended the quarter outscoring the hosts 16-9. 
 
The two teams traded 3-pointers to start the fourth quarter before La Verne used an 18-2 run to put the game out of reach. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• After scoring seven or fewer points in every game last season, Elstone has now reached double-digit points six times in the Pioneers first 11 games. She posted a career-high 12 points on Saturday, before resetting that mark today. 
• The Pioneers outscored La Verne 28-25 in the middle two quarters but were undone by the Leopards big first and fourth quarters. 
• Carroll posted a career-best seven offensive rebounds in the loss. She is averaging 4.27 offensive rebounds per game. 
• Piper Curry added 11 rebounds for her third double-digit rebound performance of the season. 
• Lewis & Clark ended the game with a season-high 22 offensive rebounds and 57 total rebounds. They ended the game leading La Verne 57-49 on the boards.  

WHO'S NEXT 
 
Lewis & Clark will be off for the rest of 2022, before kicking off 2023 with a trip to take on conference foe Whitworth University on Friday, January 6 at 6 p.m.