January 5, 2006 -

Whittier, CA - The 2006 Purple & Gold POET Classic tipped off with a women's game between Vassar College and host Whittier College. The Poets took and maintained the lead throughout the game, finishing with a score of 65-58.

Junior transfer Michelle Mascoto (Beaumont, CA) had her second straight double-double game with 18 total points and 14 rebounds in the game. Mascoto also had a team high 7 assists. Michelle Araw (Pomona, CA) and Desiree Flores (Rosemead, CA) also hit double digits scoring with 15 and 11 respectively. Araw had 8 rebounds on the night for the Poets as well.

The Brewers of Vassar College were led by Rachel Cerlen (Short Hills, NJ) who had 12 total points and 9 rebounds and Meredith McGair (Cranston, RI) who had 12 total points and 7 rebounds in the game.

The second women's game of the day was a match-up between Wheaton College and William Smith College. Again the lead was maintained from the beginning to the end of the 76-39 game. Wheaton shot 50% on the game and 55.6% from the free throw line.

The Wheaton Thunder had four double digit scorers including Elizabeth Fox (Reno, NV) with 15 total points, Jill Trenz (Cincinnati, OH) 14 total points and 6 rebounds, Wendy Woudenberg (Phoenix, AZ) 12 total points and Kathleen Fidelia (Arden, NC) 11 total points. Leaders for the Herons of William Smith were Stephanie Czajkowski (Syracuse, NY) with 9 total points and Tanya Richvalsky (Mohawk, NY) who had 7 total points and 7 rebounds in the game.

Game three was a face-off between the Wheaton College Thunder and the La Sierra University Golden Eagles. The game was back and forth until about the 16 minute mark when the Thunder took it away. Dave Noell (Santa Barbara, CA) hit 4-7 three point shots and was 6-9, and ended up with 16 points to lead the team. Tony Bollier (Leo, IN) had 12 total points while both Michael Fiddler (Medford, OR) and Andy Wiele (St. Louis, MO) had 7 rebounds (4 offensive and 6 offensive respectively) in the 75-42 win over La Sierra. Fiddler also had 3 blocks in the game.

The Golden Eagles offense was led by Terrell Hendricks (Downey, CA) with 12 total points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks and Blaine Smith (Corning, CA) with 10 total points.
The final game of the evening was a tip-off between Whittier College and West Coast Baptist College. The Eagles quickly scored but the Poets came back with a bucket of their own and never looked back. The Poets shot 66.1% on the night (70.6% in the second half) as they put up 95 points to the Eagles 53.

Each member of the Poet squad saw playing time and 11 of 13 players scored. Brandon Robinson (Fontana, CA) had a double-double with 20 total points (9-12 field goals) and 13 rebounds (6 offensive). Raphael Farlough (Los Angeles, CA) put up 13 points and had 5 rebounds and 2 steals, while Anthony Taylor (Los Angeles, CA) and Marcus Gibson (Villa Park, CA) both had 12 total points. Chris Dalley (Santa Barbara, CA) led the Poets with 7 assists. Matt Baker was 4-4 shooting and contributed 8 total points as well.

Tommy Thorogood (Lancaster, CA) was 6-9 shooting in the first half and finished the game with 20 total points for the Eagles. Michael Moyer (Terre Haute, IN) had 8 rebounds and Thorogood had 7.

Tomorrow's games will begin at 2:00pm as La Sierra University plays West Coast Baptist for the Consolation game of the Men's Tournament. On the women's side Vassar College will play Wheaton College at 4:00pm before the Poets of Whittier College host the Herons of William Smith College. The Tournament will finish with the Poets of Whittier College taking the court at 8:00pm against the Thunder of Wheaton College in the Men's Championship game.