CMS Women's Basketball Stretches Win Streak to 15 with 56-41 Win Over Whittier

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The CMS Women's Basketball team earns its 15th consecutive win with a 56-41 victory over Whittier. Maya Love led the way with a double-double, 14 points and 12 rebounds, as the Athenas fought off a slow start offensively and came back from a six-point deficit to win by 15 at Roberts Pavilion on Wednesday night. 

CMS Women's Basketball improves to 19-2 overall and 11-1 in the SCIAC with the victory. The Athenas had three players score in double figures with Lindsey Cleary scoring 12 points, Ellery Koelker-Wolfe notched 10 points, and Love led the way with 14 points on 6-15 from the field alongside 12 rebounds, marking her ninth double-double of the season. Corinne Bogle added nine points, Kate Parrish scored seven off the bench to lead all bench-scorers.

The Athenas found themselves down 12-6 following a three-pointer by Whittier guard Mia Maglinte, but rallied back to take a 24-20 lead into the half. Love scored 12 of her team-high 14 in the first half and the Athenas held the Poets to 5-27 (18.5%) from the field for the first half while shooting 10-28 (35.7%) over the first 20 minutes of play. After trailing 14-8 at the 9:05 mark of the second quarter, the Athenas went on an 8-2 run to tied the game 16-16 and with a jumper by Love, at the 4:20 mark of the 2nd grabbed their first lead since the opening minutes of the first quarter, 18-16. The two-point lead was short-lived as Cali Cubel sank two free throws tying the game 18-18 at 4:09. 

CMS responded and went on a 6-2 run to close out the first half with a 24-20 lead. Lindsey Cleary paved her way to the basket for a bucket at 1:46 knotting the score once again, 20-20. Love sank a jumper and Parrish poured in a bucket from the paint on a nice pass from Love to give the Athenas a four-point lead after 20 minutes.

After an evenly played third quarter (10-10) giving CMS 34-30 advantage going to the final quarter, the Athenas doubled up the Poets 22-11 in the fourth and forced 21 turnovers for the game to clinch a 15-point win, 56-41. Cleary came alive offensively scoring eight points in the second half to lift her total to 12. All 10 of Koelker-Wolfe's points came in the second stanza on 3-7 shooting and finished with eight rebounds. CMS forced Whittier into 13 second-half turnovers and pulled away in a physical hard-fought contest at Roberts Pavilion on Wednesday night. 

From the 8:09 mark of the fourth quarter on, the Athenas went on a 19-9 run to give them an insurmountable lead. Koelker-Wolfe talked about what it takes to win a big SCIAC matchup and the adjustments that were made in tonight's game. 

Whittier was led by Cubel, who scored a team-high 14 points on 5-9 shooting, marking the only Poet in double figures for the game. Lara Stroud added five points, Teani White scored five points and Maglinte finished with five points. The Poets dropped to 9-12 overall and 6-8 in the SCIAC with their second consecutive loss.

Overall the Athenas outscored the Poets 26-6 in the paint, 18-7 off of turnovers, and won the battle of the boards 39-36. CMS shot 27 free throws, making 18 over them (66.7%), compared to 16 free throw attempts for Whittier, making 11 (68.8%). CMS held Whittier to just 13 made shots and forced a 4-12 (25.0%) performance from three-point range. CMS recorded 12 steals and Love had a game-high four thefts. The No. 18 CMS Women's Basketball team continues its hold on first place in the SCIAC with an 11-1 record in the conference, sitting a-half game up on Pomona-Pitzer (11-2) and the tiebreaker in hand over the second place Sagehens. 

CMS Women's basketball is back in action on Saturday, Feb. 9 against Caltech (9-13, 3-10) at Roberts Pavilion on Senior Night, with tip scheduled for 5 p.m. in the first end of a double-header with the Men's basketball team who dropped a heart-breaker 76-73 at Whittier tonight. The Athenas will play one final home game after the matchup against the Beavers, a postponed contest from Feb. 2 against La Verne is scheduled to be made up on Feb. 11 at a time that is still to be announced.