LOS ANGELES (Jan. 25, 2020) – The Caltech women's basketball team came together to win its first SCIAC road game of the season at Occidental College and second outright conference win of 2020. The visiting Beavers took down the Tigers, 58-46, in their second meeting of the year.

The Beavers started strong, competing with the host Tigers early before kicking it into high gear from the second quarter onward. The defensive principles instilled by Head Coach Bridgette Reyes and her coaching staff came to fruition throughout this period, as the Beavers held the Tigers to nine points or fewer in two different quarters while also holding the home team to a 1-for-20 night from beyond the arc. With the Tigers coming up empty on 95 percent of their shots from deep, the Caltech offense was able to go to work. The Beavers piled it on with 20 third quarter points, 13 of which were scored by freshman forward Sahana Saikumar (Arcadia, Calif. / Arcadia). 

"I'm really proud of our team and how we all stepped up to the challenge," Reyes said. "After a tough loss against this same team earlier in the season, we responded with a greater focus on the defensive game plan and a higher level of confidence on offense."

Caltech received additional offensive aid from freshman guard Helen Siavelis (Arlington Heights, Ill. / Prospect), who played the best two-way game of her young career and came through with 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Six of the freshman's points came from deep. Caltech also had its first game of the season with more than two players corralling double-digit rebounds. Saikumar finished the game with 11 rebounds to go with her 22 points, while senior Alexa Lauinger (Ortonville, Mich. / Brandon) and freshman Faith Pinney (Spokane, Wash. / Gonzaga Preparatory School) pulled down 10 rebounds apiece.

Offensively, the Beavers relied on the drive, easy looks and their superb team free throw shooting to score points. Caltech shot 15-for-18 from the free-throw line, on par with some of its best shooting performances of the season at the foul line. Senior guard Grace Peng (San Ramon, Calif. / California) helped the cause by making all three of her free throws and scoring 11 total points while Saikumar went 8-for-9 at the line.

Perhaps most notably, four Caltech players played the entire game. Junior guard Lauren Suezaki (San Ramon, Calif. / California) gave the Beavers five good minutes off the bench, but with the starting five gelling as well as they have all season, all five starters wound up playing the entire second half without subs. Despite finding themselves at a depth disadvantage, Caltech kept the pressure on Occidental for all 40 minutes without taking its foot off the gas pedal, resulting in the Beavers' second SCIAC win of the season while allowing them to surpass the Tigers in the standings.

"Our players played a lot of minutes and executed on both ends of the floor," Reyes said. "Our team proved that we could win 50-50 balls and dive on the floor while grabbing big rebounds down the stretch."

With its second SCIAC win of the season in hand, Caltech will look to pile up additional victories this week as it looks to work its way back into the SCIAC Postseason Tournament hunt. Reyes and the Beavers will look to keep rolling when they host the annual Orange Out game against Whittier College on Wednesday, Jan. 29 at 7 p.m.

Follow and show support for your Caltech Beavers on Twitter (@CaltechBeavers), Facebook, YouTube and Instagram!