ATHERTON, CA – Menlo Women's Basketball alumni were treated to a strong performance on Saturday as the Oaks opened on a 12-3 run and never looked back, upping their level of play on both ends of the court in the second half to secure an 80-59 Pacific West Conference triumph hosting Fresno Pacific inside Haynes-Prim Pavilion on Alumni Appreciation Day.

Oaks Highlights
-Hitting three triples, Laila Saenz finished with 17 points, seven rebounds, four steals, and two assists
-Alberte Frisch contributed in every area, leading the team with 18 points in addition to six rebounds, five assists, and three steals
-The third Oak to score in double figures, Zoe Carrillo was 6-for-7 from the field with 12 points and six rebounds

Menlo Shoots Over 57 Percent From Field In Dominant Second Half
Following a celebration of senior guard Alberte Frisch's 1,000-point achievement earlier this season just before tipoff, the Oaks scored the first six points of the day with Frisch ironically assisting two of the three baskets. Sophomore forward Zoe Carrillo had half of the team's first six points though Frisch would also get her first points during the 12-3 surge to begin the game.

Steals and subsequent fastbreak layups by redshirt freshman guard/forward Kimberly Ceron-Romero and senior guard Mehkia Applewhite fueled an 8-0 run to end the quarter with Menlo in front 20-10. That burst was extended to 12-0 as graduate student guard Laila Saenz began to heat up and seven more unanswered points soon came off the spark of graduate student forward Frida Schmidt's 3-pointer.

Up 35-19 at the break, the Oaks got two triples from Saenz in the first three minutes of the second half and continued to maintain close to a 20-point margin with scores from sophomore forward Taylor Westbrook. A long-range attack by the Sunbirds helped them cut their deficit to 12 at the end of the fourth, but Saenz again had the answer with her third triple for Menlo's first bucket of the fourth.

"We switched up our defense because they were shooting a lot of threes and hitting open shots," Saenz said. "We've been in this situation in our last two losses – we were up and then the lead got cut – so we wanted to switch gears, make sure we were under control, taking care of the ball, and getting stops. We had just a lot more focus in that third and fourth quarter."

That shot by Saenz initiated a 13-0 surge as she joined senior guard Jayonnah Carter and Frisch in contributing to the offense. With just four minutes remaining and now a 22-point advantage, Menlo would not be denied their 80-59 win when the final horn sounded.

"We've just been using our last losses as fuel to spark stronger intensity on defense, getting boards, and especially taking care of the ball," Saenz said.

On Alumni Appreciation Day, a special halftime ceremony honored Menlo Women's Basketball alumni in attendance including: Lauriane (Cassou) Jackson, Camille Harris, Celina Pagan, Ashlyn Monk, Anya Gamez, Anya Gamez, and Kiara Brown.

Up Next
Currently one spot out of the postseason at seventh in the conference standings with a 6-7 PacWest record, Menlo will quickly rematch Dominican, who holds the fourth spot, on Jan. 26 at 5:30 p.m. in San Rafael.

"We're really focused on getting into the PacWest Tournament right now and just taking it game by game," Saenz said.