Claremont, Calif. - Senior forward Asha Gipson (San Diego, Calif.) had 23 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and seven steals to lead the Pomona-Pitzer Women's Basketball team to an 89-73 win over Arizona Christian on Friday evening at Voelkel Gymasium.

The win was the first for the Sagehens (1-7) on the year, as it broke through into the win column after a near miss on Monday (a 64-59 loss at La Sierra). Arizona Christian slips to 3-8 on the year with the loss.

Pomona-Pitzer had three players with 20 or more points against the Firestorm, as sophomore guard Emi Hashizume (San Mateo, Calif.) added a game-high 24 and freshman forward Maria Weyhrauch (Juneau, Alaska) had a personal high with 20 points, to go along with seven rebounds and five assists.

The first time the teams played at the David Wells Classic on Nov. 25, Arizona Christian used its pressing and trapping style to run away with a 103-83 win over the Sagehens in a game played at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. This time, the Sagehens withstood the early punch as Arizona Christian jumped out to a 25-17 lead and instead came back with a strong run of its own. Weyhrauch and Hashizume each had old-fashioned three-point plays to make the score 25-23, and Hashizume came right back with a three-pointer to cap off a quick 9-0 run and give Pomona-Pitzer a 26-25 lead.

After the Firestorm answered back to go ahead 37-32, the Sagehens closed out the half with a key 13-2 run to take a 45-39 lead, capped off by a Weyhrauch lay-up.

Arizona Christian started the second half with a quick run to tie the score at 46-46 on a lay-up by Sarah Beth Hock, but the Sagehens regrouped with the knockout punch, an 11-0 run that started with a Gipson lay-up and ended with two consecutive Gipson lay-ups. The Firestorm did get the lead back down to eight points twice, the last time at 63-55 with 10:16 remaining, but could come no closer as Gipson scored a lay-up and Hashizume hit a three-pointer and jumper at the foul line to make the score 70-55 and Pomona-Pitzer was able to cruise from there.

Gipson shot 8-13 from the floor and 7-8 from the foul line on the way to her 23 points, while tallying seven of her team's 17 steals. Junior guard Alexis Sones (Los Angeles, Calif.) added 10 points, freshman guard Ruthie Shapiro (Moraga, Calif.) added sixpoints, eight rebounds and four assists, and freshman guard Caroline Zaia (Napa, Calif.) provided some outstanding stability off the bench at the point guard spot, with seven assists in 18 minutes of playing time.

Pomona-Pitzer will be back in action when it hosts Piedmont next Saturday (Dec. 17) for a 4 p.m. contest.