Gritty OT win for Athenas in Play4Kay game

CLAREMONT, Calif. – With the conference title on the line, the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's basketball team delivered a thrilling 63-58 overtime victory on Wednesday night. The Athenas overcame a tough Cal Lutheran team to put themselves in position to play for the SCIAC championship on Saturday. Prior to the game tonight, CMS and Cal Lutheran honored survivors of cancer and wore warmup shirts in support of the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.

After recording her first career double-double last Saturday, senior Quinn Glosniak (CMC) ended up with 16 boards and 10 points for the second time in her career to hit that mark. Junior Kailee Severt (CMC) led the team and scored 15 on the night, including three from behind the arc. Right behind Glosniak for rebounds was Claire Donnelly (CMC) with nine on the night.

The Athenas started off hot, shooting 50 percent in the initial period. Senior Kris Brackmann (CMC) led with seven.

Then, the Regals put together a 16-point second quarter, capped off by a seven-point run to close out the half. The CLU defense successfully kept CMS out of the paint in the quarter and held the Athenas to a mere 18.8 shooting percentage.

The Athenas trailed by three points going into halftime, but then came out of the break with renewed intensity. In the third quarter alone, Glosniak had more rebounds personally than Cal Lutheran did as a team. Glosniak's one assist in the period found Severt in the corner. Severt's smooth three-ball tied up the game, 32-32.

Freshman Maya Love (CMC) came in for just three minutes in the third, bringing a spark off the bench to both the offense and defense. In the fourth, Love seemed unstoppable. Junior Corinne Bogle (CMC) got things started defensively, applying pressure and holding the Regals to just two points in the first three minutes of play.

After Severt hit an identical 3-pointer to electrify the crowd and give CMS the 45-44 lead, Love went to work. She ducked under a defender in the paint for a hard fought layup and then hustled down for a defensive board. CLU got a brief lead when Janelle Porter made a pair of free throws but then Love poured in four more points from layups.

Again, Porter came up clutch with an assisted 3-pointer at the 1:59 mark to tie the game 50-50. After trading free throw attempts, CMS was up by just one point with 10 seconds remaining. An offensive foul called on CLU put the ball back in the Athenas' hands. Bogle sunk one foul shot and then Porter from CLU drained two to end at the 53-53 tie.

Five different Athenas scored in the overtime period. Head coach Kristen Dowling commented, "The whole team just worked really, really hard for this win – what a great team effort!" CMS made all four foul shots in the period and only had one turnover to seal the 63-58 victory.

With the win tonight, CMS (16-8, 12-3) will now battle Chapman (15-8, 12-2) on Saturday night for not only the SCIAC title, but also the No. 1 seed going into the SCIAC Postseason Tournament. The Athenas square off with the Panthers in Roberts Pavilion at 5 p.m. on Feb. 18.

Box Score

By Emily Nordhoff
Sports Information Director

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