WHITTIER, Calif. — Junior guard-forward Kathryn Edwards scored 27 points and added 13 rebounds on Saturday night as the Caltech women's basketball team closed the season with a 59-47 victory over Whittier College.

Edwards (Centennial, Colo. / Araphoe) played all 40 minutes in the team's 2023-24 finale, which saw the Beavers top the hosting Poets for the fifth straight meeting.

The standout earned the game's first points by route of a made free throw before earning the first assist of the matchup after finding classmate Kodie Vondra (Livingston, Mont. / Park), who splashed a deep shot from behind the arc to put Caltech up 4-0. A nice dime from senior guard Hope Arnett (Torrance, Calif. / Chadwick School) to Edwards underneath the basket put Caltech up 6-0.

The Poets closed the gap in the final minutes of the first quarter, though Caltech still held the lead with a 10-8 score at the first buzzer. The Beavers nabbed three steals over the course of the ten minutes.

The Beavers posted an even stronger defensive performance in the second quarter as they held the hosts to just six points. Three steals and a total of five forced turnovers highlighted the efforts by the Beavers, who headed to halftime with a six-point lead at 20-16.

It was a far different third quarter for the Poets, who put up their best offensive quarter of the game; the Beavers, however, also recorded their strongest offensive period with 20 points of their own.

Caltech perhaps played its most impressive basketball in the final quarter, outscoring the Poets 19-6 to cap the season with a 59-47 victory.

Edwards' 27 points led all players; her 13 rebounds led the game and ties her season high. After grabbing her seventh board, the standout became the 11th player in program history to reach 500 career rebounds.

Arnett and Vondra's four assists tied for the most in the contest. Senior forward Claire Perhach (Carlsbad, Calif. / Sage Creek) recorded three steals to tie the game high.

The group shot .457 from the field to Whittier's .333 and made six 3-pointers to the Poets' three. Caltech grabbed 38 rebounds to the opponent's 23.

Head coach Annie Tarakchian expressed joy with the team's performance in their final matchup of the 2023-24 campaign.

"We have had great ups and downs this season and we really wanted to end on a high note for our seniors," said Tarakchian. "One game better than last year's conference record, our goal is to continue to get better and better within our program and rep the Caltech name strongly," she said.

"I'm proud of this group and will certainly miss this team and our graduating class."

The group will now take a well-deserved rest before preparing for the 2024-25 campaign this fall.

Follow Caltech Women's Basketball on Instagram and follow Caltech Athletics on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram.