PASADENA, Calif. — Nearly two weeks since their last game, and with final exams in between, Caltech Women's Basketball faced off against Lewis & Clark College for the Beavers' penultimate nonconference game of the season. With a strong drive to balance some significant absences on the roster against a bigger team, Caltech came away with a convincing 62-47 victory.

The Pioneers won the tip-off, but sophomore Kodie Vondra got her hands on a slow Lewis & Clark pass, tying up her opponent and earning a possession via a jump ball situation, and tallying her first steal of the game. Seconds later, senior Faith Pinney splashed a three-pointer to open up the scoring. The teams traded missed shots and rebounds before junior Claire Perhach collected an offensive rebound and laid it up and in to make it a 5-0 score. Jumpers by Vondra, sophomore Eshani Patel and senior Sahana Saikumar followed, and the Beavers led 11-2 with 3:40 to go in the opening frame. 

The guests retaliated with a three-pointer, but then first-year Eleanor Kim nailed a jump shot to make it 13-5, notching her first intercollegiate points in her first Caltech game. By the end of the quarter, the Beavers led by a 14-10 score. 

Caltech's lead shrunk to a single point early in the second quarter, but their disciplined play resulted in just one foul and two Lewis & Clark free throw attempts, and eight points by Saikumar along with another five from Vondra kept Caltech ahead for a 29-23 halftime margin. 

After the break, the Beavers raced ahead to an 18-point lead as Vondra, Saikumar and sophomore Maria Vazhaeparambil rained points down on the opposition in a 13-0 scoring run, earning a 45-27 lead by the 4:08 mark. The visitors briefly cut their deficit to nine points with just under two minutes to play in the fourth quarter, but Vondra knocked down a three-pointer shortly thereafter to crack the 20-point mark. Finishing with a pair of good free throws, she led both teams in scoring with 24 points, and also claimed a game-high four steals. 

"The beauty of this team is when one goes down, others can fill in," Head Coach Annie Tarakchian said. "Others had the opportunity to step up, and they did just that."

Saikumar was one rebound shy of a double-double, tallying 20 points and nine boards along with a blocked shot. Pinney dished out a season-high seven assists. The Beavers dominated up close, scoring 22 points in the paint compared to the Pioneers' 10, and shot 39.4% from the field compared to 22.2% accuracy by Lewis & Clark.

The Beavers have a chance at earning their longest win streak in Caltech Women's Basketball history on Sunday afternoon as they face George Fox University at Braun Gymnasium. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. Watch live on https://sciacnetwork.com/caltech and on the SCIAC Network mobile app.