LA VERNE, Calif. (Jan. 11, 2023) – Caltech hit the road Wednesday night to face the University of La Verne Leopards, the first-place women's basketball team in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Despite the strength of the opposition and the large, raucous crowd inside the Super Tents, the Beavers started strongly, earning a lead in the first quarter and only trailing the hosts by four points at the half.

"They really kept their cool," Head Coach Annie Tarakchian said of her Caltech squad. "It was really loud, but a really fun atmosphere in there, and we just played our game as best we could."

Sophomore Maria Vazhaeparambil (Saratoga, Calif. / The Harker School) exploded for a career-high 14 points, including a pair of three-pointers.

By virtue of a La Verne technical foul before the game began, Kodie Vondra (Livingston, Mont. / Park) put Caltech on the board with a free throw before the opening tip. She made a two-pointer later in the quarter, while Kathryn Edwards (Centennial, Colo. / Arapahoe) racked up nine points in the opening frame to lead both teams. Edwards eventually finished with 17 points along with eight rebounds and a couple of steals.

The Beavers will return home this weekend to host Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on Saturday at 2 p.m. as part of the winter sports Orange Out event. Watch live at https://sciacnetwork.com/caltech.