Athenas clinch first place in SCIAC with win over Regals

CLAREMONT, Calif. – With their 14^th straight conference win, the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's basketball team clinched first place in the SCIAC conference and home court advantage throughout the SCIAC Postseason Tournament. The Athenas defeated the Cal Lutheran Regals 48-44 in a tightly contested game that came down to the final minute.

Sophomore forward Kailee Severt (CMC) started the scoring for CMS on a three pointer 51 seconds in and ended up scoring the Athenas' first eight points en route to an 11-8 lead after the first quarter.

Junior forward Kris Brackmann (CMC) forced a steal deep in CLU territory and sank an easy layup for an 18-11 lead at 6:32 of the second.

In the final minute before halftime, Regals guard Jessica Salottolo connected on her second three of the quarter to close the gap to two points, but CMS managed to edge out a four point lead at the break thanks to a late layup from freshman forward Ellery Koelker-Wolfe (CMC).

In the first minute and a half of the third, Regals guard Chelsea Jacoby made it a one point game and helped Cal Lutheran kick start a run that saw them score ten straight points. CMS managed to find its footing in the second half of the quarter and kept the score close, going into the fourth down by three.

Junior center Claire Donnelly (CMC) once again made it a one point game just over three minutes in and junior guard Jai Dungca (CMC) knotted the score up at 37 on a free throw one minute later.

The final six minutes saw the teams trade one point leads eight times, culminating in the final 16 seconds with the Athenas up 45-44. On her drive to the basket attempting to reclaim the lead, Cal Lutheran forward Tatiana Dunlap was called for a double-dribble which gave the ball back to CMS.

Severt sank both free throws on the ensuing foul and Dungca came up with a steal just seconds later. Dungca added one more free throw as the Athenas escaped with a narrow victory to earn what will be their ninth SCIAC Championship.

Both Brackmann and Severt had strong nights offensively for CMS. Severt posted 15 points with two threes and four rebounds while Brackmann contributed 13 points, six rebounds and two assists.

Junior guard Taylor Messick led the Regals in points (15) and rebounds (6) while Salottolo and Jacoby scored 10 points each.

CMS (19-4, 14-0 SCIAC) will look to keep its winning streak alive in a Sixth Street rivalry battle with Pomona-Pitzer on Feb. 18 before the regular season finale at Redlands on Feb. 20.

By Tony Steege
Sports Information Assistant

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