Gloria Bates Earns SCIAC Women's Basketball Defensive Player of the Week Honor

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Junior forward Gloria Bates was named the SCIAC Women's Basketball Defensive Player of the Week for her role in helping the CMS women's basketball team start out 2-1 on its season-opening three-game road trip to Oregon over the weekend.

Bates began the season helping the Athenas to a 56-54 win over Willamette on Friday at the George Fox Bruin Classic, when she was one of the players who helped to hold Willamette leading scorer Britanny Kochenderfer (20 ppg) to just five points on 1-10 shooting in a defensive struggle. In a defeat to No. 10 George Fox on Saturday, Bates had five steals to help the Athenas force a whopping 36 turnovers in a losing cause. 

In the weekend finale on Sunday at Pacific (Ore.), Bates was a key part of a defense that held the Boxers scoreless for almost the entire final 7:13 of the game, when they went on a 16-0 run before Pacific made an uncontested lay-up at the buzzer. Trailing 46-38 with 7:13 to play, Bates hit two free throws, blocked a shot, made a lay-up, grabbed a defensive rebound and made one of two free throws to kick-start the rally, then added the go-ahead jumper with three minutes left and another defensive rebound to give the Athenas the lead it would not relinquish. 

Bates finished the Pacific game with 12 points and nine rebounds (eight on the defensive end) to spur the comeback win. She is averaging 9.7 points and 5.0 rebounds through the first three games. 

CMS will be back in action this weekend when it co-hosts the David Wells Classic, meeting Dallas on Friday at 4:30 p.m. at Pomona-Pitzer and then welcoming The College of New Jersey to Roberts Pavilion on Saturday for a 7 p.m. contest.