With a perfect record against Caltech on the line, it looked as if the Regals basketball team, down by 12 points with just eight minutes left in the fourth quarter, would complete the comeback to keep their undefeated status against the Beavers. But despite a series of three pointers by junior forward Abi Torres-Drozd, sophomore guard Jozie Tangeman and first-year guard Haley Tyrell to chip away at the 12-point deficit, the Regals fell to the Beavers with a final score of 63-56.

First-year guard Alexis Rodriguez praised the effort of her teammates.

“Our shooters…Jozie (Tangeman), Nat (Ruhl), Kailee (Yan) helped with a lot of floaters and Kayla (Watterson) offensively got a lot of rebounds for us,” Rodriguez said.

However, even with several turnovers by the Beavers late in the fourth quarter, the Regals were unable to defend inside the key, where Caltech earned 44 of their total 63 points.

First-year forward Cameron Mallory said, “They had a lot of points in the paint and we couldn’t really stop that and it hurt us in the end.”

With the Regals late combined efforts from the perimeter, a free throw and a basket by Tyrell, they were finally able to cut the lead down to a one possession game with less than a minute to go.

Head Coach Lindsay Samaniego said that their objective was to create and capitalize on turnovers to set up for some easier offensive opportunities. She said that she was fairly pleased with the 15 turnovers the Regals managed to earn throughout the game.

“I thought that our energy and our drive and our passion were really good at the end of the game. If we were able to play like that for forty minutes, I think we’ll be a pretty dangerous team,” Samaniego said.

A pair of fouls and a costly turnover with just a little over ten seconds left until the buzzer gave the Beavers the little breathing room they needed to earn their first win against Cal Lutheran in program history.

The Regals will have an opportunity to bounce back from this two game losing streak when the Tigers of Occidental College come to Gilbert Arena on Saturday, Feb. 2 at 5 p.m.

Dominick Grimm 
Reporter