PASADENA, CA — Alyssa Smith scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to put herself in double-double territory as the University of La Verne women's basketball team fell to the Caltech Beavers 57-55 in a close SCIAC matchup Saturday night.

Caltech took a seven-point lead in the fourth, But the Leopards came back led by back-to-back layups by Smith cutting Beavers' lead down to one point. But it was not enough for the Leopards to complete the comeback as their final heave at the buzzer went off the mark.

Marissa Howell and Niana Shields both put up 11 points each. Howell also grabbed four rebounds while Christen Ziska added eight points for the Leopards.

The Leopards controlled much of the first quarter, but with eight different lead changes, the game was tight throughout. By halftime, Caltech held a slim 30-27 lead.

In the third quarter, La Verne began to make a comeback, outscoring Caltech 16-13 to tie the score up at 43-43 going into the final ten minutes of the game.

The Beavers were led by Kathryn Edwards, who scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Kyra Phaychanpheng contributed 12 points while AnaMaria Robertson and Zeynep Goktepe both chipped in 10 points, helping the Beavers secure the win.

With the loss, La Verne drops to 2-7 in SCIAC play and 4-12 overall. Caltech improves to 2-5 in conference and 6-7 overall.

The Leopards will return to play this Wednesday when they host the Chapman University Panthers at 7 p.m.