LOS ANGELES — Occidental senior and team captain Erin Matsumoto has scored nearly 700 points in her career, but the last two brought the biggest smile to her face.
Despite a season-ending knee injury that cut her season short on Feb. 8, the guard from Oak Park got the pass off of the opening tip and scored one final basket as fans cheered and the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens graciously let her feel the thrill of the ball going through the net one final time.
The Tigers let the Sagehens even the score on the next play and Matsumoto limped her way out of the game shortly after.
Pomona-Pitzer made a solid comeback effort and hung around until the very end before the Tigers' ran away with a 67-56 win at Rush Gymnasium on Wednesday.
"Erin has been an incredible leader and has meant so much to our program over the last four years," Oxy head coach Anahit Aladzhanyan said. "She's been not only a key part of our team on the court, but a great student and leader in the community. We will miss her a lot and we wish her the best."
Matsumoto finishes her career with 691 points and 78 made three-pointers.
Triana Anderson led Oxy with 20 points, 10 rebounds and three assists. Midori McElwee had 13 points off of the bench, Shariah Green added 12 points and Tala Ismail scored 11.
Alaina Woo led the Sagehens with 16.
Season Impact: Oxy improves to 13-11 and 9-6 in SCIAC with one game to play.
Pomona-Pitzer falls to 1-21 overall and 1-13.
Next Game: The Tigers are back in action on Tuesday, finishing the season at Chapman at 5 p.m.
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