Parrish Punishes Poets, Sets Up Battle with Panthers for SCIAC Championship

CLAREMONT, Calif. – Kate Parrish (CMC) was unstoppable off the bench tonight in Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's basketball's win over the Whittier College Poets. The freshman dropped 20 points on an 8-12 mark from the field and a perfect 4-4 effort from the free throw line. She had a strong defensive presence as well, stuffing three Whittier shots and grabbing five boards in the 69-42 victory.

Kailee Severt (CMC) got the ball rolling with a jumper just 15 seconds into the game but Whittier quickly took charge with a 7-0 run. Two made free throws from Parrish got the Athenas back into the game and the two teams traded throughout the remainder of the first quarter with the Poets holding a 15-9 lead after 10 minutes of play.

Trailing by six at the start of the second period, the Athenas kicked their offense into hyper-drive with back-to-back threes from Ellery Koelker-Wolfe (CMC) and Teeana Cotangco (CMC) within a minute of each other. A second triple from Cotangco put CMS ahead 18-16 with 6:11 to go in the half. Severt and Corinne Bogle (CMC) continued the trend from downtown, posting back-to-back threes just 30 seconds apart as CMS scored 10-stright points to push the advantage to 28-19.

A late free throw from the Poets made it a 28-20 game heading to the half.

CMS continued their offensive push in the third quarter, scoring a total of 27 points in the period to grow their cushion to 55-25 at the end of the third. Parrish highlighted the period with 11 points on a perfect 5-5 effort from the floor, despite playing only five minutes in the period. Bogle also chimed in with seven points as CMS missed just four shots in the quarter (11-15).

CMS went on a huge 12-3 run to open up the fourth period, giving them their largest lead of the game at 67-38 with 3:33 left to play. Isabella Maramica's (CMC) jumper from beyond the arc was the nail in the coffin, giving CMS a 29 point cushion. The Athenas went on to close out the game 69-42.

As mentioned, Parrish led the offense with 20 points in the game to go with three blocks. Bogle followed with 10 points, five assists, and three steals. Bogle, Severt, and Cotangco each hit two three-pointers.

With the win, the Athenas improve to 21-3 on the season and 14-1 in SCIAC play. They will play their final regular season game on Saturday. The team will honor its three seniors before the take on Chapman. With a win against the Panthers, CMS would claim a piece of the SCIAC Championship. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.

Should the Athenas defeat Chapman, the SCIAC will use a tie-breaking coin toss after the game to decide the top seed in the SCIAC Tournament next weekend.