Corinne Bogle led the Athenas with 17 points on Wednesday night.
Corinne Bogle led the Athenas with 17 points on Wednesday night.

Athenas Top Poets for Close Road Win

WHITTIER, Calif. – The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's basketball team closed out Wednesday's game with a 13-6 run over the final four minutes to beat the Whittier Poets on their home floor by a 62-51 final. The Athenas held a slim, 49-45 lead following a Whittier free throw with 3:59 remaining in the game, but a strong final stretch allowed the Athenas to push past the Poets and claim the 11-point victory.

Corinne Bogle (CMC) and Maya Love (CMC) led four double-digit scorers with 17 and 16 points, respectively. Love added 13 rebounds in the game for her ninth double-double of the season.

The Athenas opened Wednesday's game on fire from the field, shooting an impressive 81.8% during the first quarter on a 9-11 effort. Kailee Severt (CMC) led the charge with eight points in the quarter to help CMS build a 23-14 lead at the end of the opening period.

The Poets quickly flipped the script in the second and third quarters and outscored CMS 25-14 over the next 20 minutes to take a two-point lead heading into the final period.

Despite struggling on the offensive end in the second quarter, CMS clung to a 28-25 lead at the break.

The third quarter was much of the same, but the Athenas managed to take eight trips to the charity stripe and converted on six of their attempts to stay within striking range of Whittier. Bogle scored three points in the period, with all three coming from the free throw line. Despite the offensive struggles during the middle of the game, the Athenas held a 37-36 lead with a minute left in the third quarter.

Whittier knocked down a three in the final seconds of the period, but CMS trailed by just two at 39-37 heading into the final 10 minutes. The deficit could have been much worse, but the Athenas held the Poets to a 10-28 effort (38.7%) from the field during the second and third quarters. That defensive effort allowed CMS to stay in the game and kept the door open for a strong final period and comeback victory.

The Poets went up four with a jumper in the first minute of the fourth quarter, but Maya Love and Gloria Bates (CMC) quickly made back-to-back buckets in the next minute to tie the game at 41-41. After Whittier and CMS traded buckets, the game stood square at 43-43 with seven minutes left in the game. Bogle connected on a jumper and it was all CMS the rest of the way.

Whittier tried to keep it close down the stretch and trailed buy just four points with under four minutes remaining, but the Athenas slammed the door with a 13-6 run to wrap up the win. That run was fueled in large part thanks to 11 CMS free throws in the game's final 1:33.

CMS claimed the 62-51 victory, but the game felt much closer than the final score would indicate.

With the win, the Athenas improve to 13-3 overall and 6-1 in the SCIAC. CMS will next take the court on Saturday when they host the Caltech Beavers at 7:00 p.m. in Roberts Pavilion.