LOS ANGELES — Grace Baranowski scored 17 points Ciara Byrne added 10 and the Occidental College women's basketball team rode a hot start on their way to their first win of year, beating UC Merced 74-61 on Friday afternoon. 

Barankowski also led the Tigers with eight rebounds, Mackenzie Bretz followed with six of her own, and Byrne grabbed five.

"Grace had an amazing all around day and almost got a double-double and Ciara was our force inside," said head coach Anahit Aladzhanyan. "Grace has really developed quickly and as a sophomore already has the maturity of an upperclassman. She has such great potential and we're very excited about what she is doing now and what she can do for us in the future."

Dru Ishibashi and Erin Matsumoto continued their streak as some of the Tigers' most reliable players, with each of them reaching double figures in scoring.

"Dru and Erin each had great games for us and did a really good job handling the ball," said Aladzhanyan.

Ishibashi scored 13 points and Matsumoto added 14. The two combined for only three turnovers in the game.

Occidental dominated in the first half leading by as many as 24 points and went into the break up 41-19 off Baranowski's 10 points.

The Bobcats made it interesting when they went on a 14-5 run to close out the third quarter bringing the score to 53-42.

Baranowski opened the fourth quarter for the Tigers with a 3-pointer followed by a Byrne layup to extend Oxy's lead. The Bobcats fought back to within nine off a jumper by Shelby Howard with 2:27 left in the game. 

But Midori McElwee sealed the game for the Tigers, taking a charge with 1:14 left to play and making both of her free throws.

"Midori had the play of the game with that late charge," said Aladzhanyan. "People just did their job, everyone contributed, and the bench was engaged and kept our energy up."

Triana Anderson continued her consistent play off the bench, scoring eight points and grabbing three rebounds in 19 minutes for the Tigers.

Courtney Dana led UC Merced with 17 points and Howard scored 15 for the Bobcats.

Season Impact: After back-to-back one point losses the Tigers found their stride on the way to their first win of the season and look to make it two in a row tomorrow in Pasadena.

UC Merced drops to 0-7.

Next Game: The Tigers will face the Illinois Tech tomorrow at 2 p.m. at Caltech. The Scarlet Hawks fell to the Caltech Beavers 79-38 earlier today.