CMS Women's Basketball Rolls to 60-44 Win Over Colby

CLAREMONT, Calif - The CMS Women's Basketball team led by as many as 24 points and never trailed as it rolled its way to a 60-44 win over Colby College on Saturday at Roberts Pavilion. Maya Love and Kate Parrish led all scorers with 13 points each and 17 players saw minutes as the Athenas controlled the majority of play to secure their fourth consecutive win. 

CMS improves to 8-2 overall with the win and Colby College drops to 5-4 with the loss. The Athenas are currently in the midst of their longest winning streak of the season which has spanned the last four games. The Athenas have outscored their opponents 297-217 during the streak, which began with a victory over Sixth Street Rival Pomona-Pitzer.

The Athenas opened the game and ran out to a 12-3 advantage until just about the halfway mark of the first quarter. That stretch was snapped by a Katie McCrum three-pointer that cut the lead to 12-6. Over that final five minute stretch though, the Colby Mules outscored the Athenas 7-5 to cut it to a four-point margin, 17-13 through the first 10 minutes of play. 

At one point in the second quarter, Colby cut the CMS lead to two points with a three-pointer by Paige Russell at the 4:22 mark. Following that made basket, the Athenas went on a 9-0 run to extend the lead to 36-25 with 2:22 remaining before the half. 

Love scored 10 points on 4-7 shooting in the first half with eight rebounds including hitting a three-point buzzer beater to send the Athenas into the halftime with a 13-point lead. Love finished with 13 points (5-9 FG) and fell one rebound shy (9) of her fourth double-double of the season. Parrish recorded nine first-half points on 3-4 shooting from the field and the free-throw line, and she finished tied for the scoring lead with 13 points (4-6) off the bench and grabbed seven rebounds. 

The third quarter was all CMS as the Athenas held the Mules to two points and recorded 12 of their own to stretch the lead to 53-30 through three-quarters of play. Colby shot just 1-14 (7.1%) from the field in the third stanza, marking the most stingy defensive performance for the Athenas in a quarter this season. 

The CMS defense forced 21 turnovers and scored 31 points off of those miscues by Colby. The Athenas worked their 2-3 zone defense into action for one of the first times this season and saw immediate results as they limited any high-post action and saw the Mules force a few three-pointers on the night. Overall, Colby shot 6-25 (24%) from three-point land, including a 0-6 stretch from beyond the arc in the third quarter. 

The Athenas did not show much rust from the two-week break and, if anything, their defense looked rejuvenated from the holiday rest holding Colby to 27.6% (16-58) from the field on the evening. CMS shot 34.3% (23-67) from the field, 4-12 (33.3%) from three-point land and 10-16 (62.5%) from the free-throw stripe.

In all, 17 Athenas played at least one minute with Flora Durgerian making her first three-point shot of the season and finishing with three points. Gloria Bates played 15 minutes off the bench and chipped in with four points, Lauren Longo played 20 minutes and tallied four points, and Lia Gagliuso shot 3-3 from the field to record six points over 13 minutes. 

Colby was led by Ainsley Burns, who scored 13 points on 6-20 shooting from the field. Burns was held below her team-leading points per game average of 16.3 points by the staunch Athenas defense. Keagan Dunbar entered tonight's game averaging 16.0 points per game and was limited to eight points on 3-7 shooting, and Grace Coutu showed some post presence for the Mules with seven points and a team-leading 11 rebounds.

CMS Women's Basketball has a quick turn-around as they host Kings' College (Pa.) Sunday at 5 p.m. inside Roberts Pavilion. The Athenas will then have a break to celebrate the New Year and will resume SCIAC play on Jan. 5 at Redlands at 2 p.m.