PASADENA — Makenzie Brandon (Seattle) scored 32 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, andElizabeth Messick (Reno, Nev.) added 12 and 17, but the Occidental College women's basketball team couldn't erase a 12-point second half lead in a 67-62 loss to Whitworth (2-0) at Caltech on Friday.
Brandon scored 18 in the second half and brought Oxy within three points three different times during the last 5 minutes. She knocked down a pair of free throws that made it 61-58 with 3:44 left, hit a jumper that made it 63-60 with 2:14 on the clock and sunk two more from the charity stripe to cut Whitworth's lead to 65-62 with 40 seconds left in the game.
Brandon's last two points made it a one-possession game with Oxy needing a stop and a rebound. But the Tigers (1-1) only got the former, giving up an offensive board to Kendra Lahue with 10 seconds to go.
Kayla Johnson hit two free throws to clinch the game after Oxy was forced to foul.
Lahue finished with a team-high 20 points.
The Tigers trailed 57-45 with 11:36 left before slowly chipping away. Marquisha Corley (Tucson, Ariz.), Alyssa Mort (Tucson, Ariz.) and Messick each had buckets during an 8-0 run capped by two Brandon free throws.
Brandon had eight rebounds at the offensive end and Messick had 13 at the other end of the floor, but neither was impressive from the field, shooting a combined 18 for 44 on the game.
After two games, both are averaging a double double. Brandon is scoring 21.5 ppg and with 10.5 rpg and Messick 12 ppg and 17.5 rpg.
Brandon, who had 10 points and seven rebounds in just 19 minutes played in Oxy's opener due to foul trouble, has now scored 42 points with 21 rebounds in 59 minutes after playing the entire game against Whitworth. Messick played all 40 minutes for the second game in a row.
Corley finished with nine points and three rebounds for the Tigers.
Whitworth's bench outscored Oxy 30-4 with just a pair of scores from Mort the Tigers' only production outside the starting line up.
Oxy struggled from the three-point line too, going 0 for 9 from beyond the arc.
Liz Little (Littleton, Colo.) had a game-high three assists for Oxy.
Oxy doesn't have much time to worry about the loss. The Tigers host Oberlin on Saturday at 3 p.m. in their final preseason game before beginning SCIAC play against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Nov. 29.