Big First Half Carries CMS Women's Basketball to Win at La Verne in Regular Season Finale

LA VERNE, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's basketball team roared out to a 51-27 halftime lead and went on to capture a 74-59 road win over La Verne in its 2019-20 regular season finale, before starting the SCIAC Tournament next week.

Senior forward Lindsey Cleary was the only player in double figures for an exceptionally-balanced CMS offense, finishing with 10 points and nine rebounds. All 14 players for the Athenas scored in the game, as CMS had 43 bench points to go along with 31 from the starters. 

With the win, CMS heads to the postseason with an 18-7 record and an 11-5 mark in SCIAC and will head to Whittier for Thursday night's semifinals. La Verne ends its season with a 13-11 record and a 6-10 mark in SCIAC. 

The Athenas scored 23 points in the first quarter and topped that with 28 in the second on the way to a big halftime lead. Junior guard Maezelle Millan and first-year forward Austyn Masuno had two straight baskets to put CMS ahead 20-10 with 3:10 left in the first quarter, and after La Verne answered with the next six points, Cleary capped off the first frame with a three-point play to give CMS a 23-17 lead after the first 10 minutes. 

Senior guard Lauren Longo and first-year guard Jacey Carter started off the second quarter with three-pointers to push the CMS lead to 12 points at 29-17. Two Cleary foul shots extended the lead to 35-19, and a pair of foul shots from sophomore forward Flora Durgerian made it a 42-21 game with 2:40 left in the half. Sophomore guard Elizabeth Howell-Egan ended the half with a basket and two foul shots around two free throws from sophomore guard Kellie Okamura to make it a 51-27 lead at the break. 

La Verne played better in the second half and held CMS scoreless for the first eight minutes as they got the lead down to 51-39, but sophomore forward Jane Baldwin stopped the run with two foul shots, and ended the third quarter with a layup to make the score 57-41. Okamura and Cleary head early fourth quarter buckets to get the lead up to 64-43, and CMS was able to cruise the rest of the way. 

The Athenas held La Verne to just 26.9 percent shooting on the day (21-78), including 22.7 percent from three (5-22) while holding the Leopards under 60 points. 

CMS will be facing Whittier for the third time this season on Thursday, with both teams winning on the other's home court. The Athenas took a narrow 46-45 win in its trip to Whittier, back on Feb. 1. The other semifinal will see fourth-seeded Pomona-Pitzer travel to top-seeded Redlands, with the two semifinal winners meeting on Saturday in the championship game for the right to go to the NCAA Tournament.