CMS Women's Basketball Hosts Pomona-Pitzer in SCIAC Championship Game Tonight at 5 PM

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's basketball team, winners of 20 games in a row, will will try make it 21 in the championship game of the 2019 SCIAC Tournament, when it hosts Pomona-Pitzer at 5 p.m. tonight at Roberts Pavilion.

Tickets for SCIAC postseason events are $10 for general admission (12 and up), $5 for senior citizens (55 and up), veterans and military personnel, and free for anyone with a valid SCIAC ID. Live video for the game will also be shown through the SCIAC portal on Stretch Internet (link here). 

CMS earned its way into the championship game with a 72-49 win over Redlands on Thursday in the SCIAC Semifinals. Junior guard Maya Love had 16 points and 13 rebounds to lead the way for CMS, while the Athenas' bench outscored its Redlands counterparts 30-2, largely contibuting to a dominant 23-7 second quarter that gave CMS a 20-point lead at the half (40-20). 

The win was the 20th in a row for the Athenas, who have not lost since a Dec. 1 defeat at home to Chapman in their SCIAC opener. CMS is now 24-2 overall on the year, tying the program record for wins in a season, and it will try to break that mark with a SCIAC Championship win over Pomona-Pitzer. 

The Sagehens, who won just one game two years ago, are now sitting at 21-5 after earning their way into the SCIAC finals with a 75-62 win over Chapman on Thursday. The Sagehens had a balanced offense, led by 16 points from Renae Tamura to pace four players in double figures. Pomona-Pitzer got off to a slow slart, trailing 22-8 after the first quarter, but it turned the tables in the second quarter, outscoring Chapman 19-5 to tie the score at the half at 27-27. 

CMS won both regular season meetings between the teams, handing Pomona-Pitzer both of their postseason losses, 85-74 at Pomona-Pitzer on Dec. 5 and 78-55 at Roberts Pavilion on Jan. 24. The two games followed similar formulas, with the Athenas building a big lead and then holding off a Sagehen comeback effort. In the first meeting, senior guard Corinne Bogle had a career-high 31 points to lead CMS to an 85-74 win, while Love had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

CMS jumped out to a 13-point lead in the second quarter in the Dec. 5 meeting, and maintained that lead at the break (42-29). Pomona-Pitzer rallied to close to within three in the third quarter at 53-50, and to within four with 50 seconds left on a three-pointer from Cameron Edward (five threes, 17 points), but the Athenas were able to hang on for the nine-point win.

In the rematch at Roberts Pavilion on Jan. 24, in a battle for first place, CMS held a 57-16 rebounding advantage, led by 14 points and 14 rebounds from Love and 13 points and 10 rebounds from sophomore forward Kate Parrish. The Athenas built a 19-point third quarter lead, then withstood a flurry of Pomona-Pitzer three-pointers to cut it to 63-53 with 5:18 left, before regrouping to close on a 15-2 run to win 78-55.

CMS is looking to win back the SCIAC Tournament Championship after falling in double-overtime in the finals to Chapman a year ago. That snapped a streak of four straight SCIAC Tournament titles for the Athenas, and kept CMS from returning to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth year in a row, despite a 23-4 final record. This year's SCIAC regular season championship, by one game over Pomona-Pitzer, marked the sixth straight year that CMS has won or shared the regular season title.