LA VERNE, CA — In his first home game at the University of La Verne, head coach Anthony Mason pushed all the right buttons late in the fourth quarter. The University of La Verne women's basketball team erased a 16-point deficit and toppled the visiting Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Fightin' Engineers 64-61 for their season's first official win.

First-year forward Alyssa Smith showed out in her first game inside the Tents, tying senior forward Chiara Brown for a team-high 17 points. Smith hit four three-pointers in the first half to keep the Leopards in the hunt, but her clutch play on both sides of the ball in the game's final moments sealed the win for La Verne.

With nearly 11 seconds remaining the score tied at 61, Smith drove and drew a foul to head to the line. She sank both shots, putting La Verne ahead for the first time since leading 2-0. The Leopards did not relinquish their advantage. Rose-Hulman committed another foul against Smith with just three seconds remaining; she sank the game's final shot from the charity stripe, and the Leopards carried their 3-point lead into the final buzzer.

Smith also forced one of eight Rose Hulman turnovers in the final quarter. Coach Mason, who once served as the defensive coach at Pepperdine University and won back-to-back championships as a Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas' assistant, prides his team's defensive ability and contributes that facet of their game to the win.

"We talked about, 'if we're going to win games it's going to be on the defensive side,'" Mason said. "Second half, we locked in there, and overcame adversity."

La Verne went on a 23-6 run to close out their home opener and brought Leo Nation out of their seats. Senior Brianna Torres sank back-to-back three-pointers in crunch time, including the biggest shot of the game to tie the score at 61. She scored eight points in the fourth, as did Brown, who led the team with 11 rebounds.

The Leopards trailed by 14 entering the fourth quarter, then tallied on two more courtesy of a deep two scored by the Engineers' Jamie Baum. Baum led all scorers with 25 points, adding seven rebounds to boot. After going 10-10 at the line, she missed two critical free throws with a chance to tie the game at 63.

Torres finished the game with 10 points, three rebounds, and two steals. Marissa Howell contributed eight points with two rebounds and two assists. 

La Verne finished 11 steals, five in the fourth quarter alone, led by Smith's and Brown's three apiece.

Mason picked up his first win inside The Tents as the leader of the women's basketball program. The Leopards head into next week's action against Life Pacific University with a 1-0 record. La Verne will host the Warriors on Tuesday, November 21 at 6 pm.