photo credit: Mitch Allan
photo credit: Mitch Allan

Athenas Claim Victory Over Bulldogs from Free Throw Line

CLAREMONT, Calif. – The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's basketball team scrapped and clawed their way to a 58-55 victory over the Redlands Bulldogs in Roberts Pavilion on Wednesday night. The Athenas held a slim 21-20 lead at the half, before both offenses started to get going in the second-half. CMS earned the victory thanks to an 11-17 mark from the free throw line in the fourth-quarter. The win moves CMS to 2-0 in the SCIAC and 5-2 overall.

Coming off the bench, Gloria Bates (CMC) scored 10 points in the fourth quarter and 15 points in the game to lead the Athenas' offensive effort on the night. Maya Love (CMC) finished just shy of her fourth double-double on the season with nine points and nine rebounds.

Allicson Siksnus and Reyna Ta'amu led the Bulldogs with 21 and 13 points, respectively.

It was a quiet opening half for both teams and CMS and Redlands combined to go just 17-59 from the floor (28.8%).

With CMS leading 11-6, Kate Parrish (CMC) connected on a free throw with 3:49 remaining in the first quarter to account for the final point of the quarter. Following the free throw, the two foes combined to miss the final 10 shots of the period and as a result, CMS held a 12-6 lead after 10 minutes.

The second quarter was just as sluggish, until the Bulldogs went on a 7-0 run late in the period to take the lead with 33 seconds left in the half. Ellery Koelker-Wolfe (CMC) gave the Athenas the lead back at 21-20 with a layup in the final seconds of the half.

It took a few minutes in the second-half, but the offenses started to pick up for both sides. The Athenas held a narrow lead for a majority of the quarter, but a late push from Redlands tied the game at 38-38 late in the quarter. Kate Parrish made a free throw in the final minute of the period to give CMS a 39-38 lead heading into the final quarter.

Redlands was the aggressor in the early portion of the final period and it seemed, at times, that the Bulldogs would pullout the contest, but the Athenas would not go away easily. With three minutes remaining in regulation, CMS trailed 53-49. The Athenas allowed just a pair of free throws over the final three minutes and scored nine points of their own to pull out the gutty, 58-55 victory.

As mentioned, free throws were a key part of the final stretch. Both teams had chances from the stripe, with the Bulldogs (4-11 - 36.4%) and Athenas (11-17 – 64.7%) each taking double-digit attempts. The Athenas were stronger from the line and closed out the tight victory.

With the win, CMS improves to 2-0 in the SCIAC and they will put their perfect conference record on the line with a meeting against Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday night in the Rains Center at 7:00 p.m.