CLAREMONT, Calif. – In the opener of the David Wells Classic in California, the Carleton College women's basketball team was held off by Pomona-Pitzer, 61-53.
 
Audrey Whitney led the Knights (1-4) with 14 points, adding five rebounds and three steals. Bella Thomas scored 12 points, dished out four assists, and also tallied three steals.
 
The lead changed hands three times in a tight first quarter, but Pomona-Pitzer (4-2) posted a 12-1 run in the early second, with all 12 points coming from Jadyn Lee and Sara Chicco. Carleton stayed in the fight with a 9-0 run of its own, but would still go into halftime down seven at 31-24.
 
Liesl McCallum started the second half with a bucket, and the Knights cut the Sagehens' lead down to three multiple times in the third and fourth quarters, but each time Pomona-Pitzer fired off quick runs to expand its lead again, finishing with an eight-point victory.
 
Chicco finished with a game-high 24 points on 6-of-14 three-point shooting, and Lee tallied 21 points and 13 rebounds.
 
Carleton shot 34.5 percent on the night, hitting 3-of-14 threes (21.4 percent). The Sagehens registered a 41.7 shooting mark, going 9-of-29 (31.0 percent) from range. The two teams tied in the rebound battle 37-37. The Knights notched 14 steals in the game, the most for the team since they picked up 20 on Feb. 23, 2022 against Bethel University.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton wraps up its trip to Southern California with a game on Saturday, Nov. 30, against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges. The game will tip off at 3:00 p.m. PT/5:00 p.m. CT at Voelkel Gymnasium on the campus of Pomona College.