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Chapman Women's Basketball Surges Past CMS Late for 64-55 Win in SCIAC Championship Rematch

Chapman Women's Basketball Surges Past CMS Late for 64-55 Win in SCIAC Championship Rematch

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Junior forward Lindsay Cleary had a season-high 17 points for the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's basketball team, but it wasn't quite enough as Chapman used a late fourth-quarter run to capture a 64-55 win over the Athenas on Saturday night at Roberts Pavilion.

With the win, Chapman remains undefeated on the year at 5-0 and moves to 2-0 in the SCIAC, while CMS falls to 4-2 overall and 0-1 in league play. The two teams tied for last year's regular season SCIAC championship at 15-1, and have split the last two SCIAC Tournament titles, with the Athenas defeating Chapman in 2017, and the Panthers knocking off CMS in double overtime last year. 

This year's first of two meetings looked like it might be headed for late drama as well. Cleary got an offensive rebound and kicked it out to senior guard Corinne Bogle for a go-ahead jumper with 7:26 to go to make the score 49-48 in favor of CMS. After Chapman answered, senior guard Maya Love scored with 6:50 to go to give the Athenas what would turn out to be their final lead of the game at 51-50. 

After two foul shots from Marissa Dunn put Chapman ahead with 6:13 to go, neither team scored until Camryn Hamaguchi knocked down a three-pointer with 3:52 to go to give the Panthers a 55-51 lead. Sophomore forward Kate Parrish got two of those points back for the Athenas with a lay-up on the next possession, but another three-pointer from Lucy Criswell made it a 58-53 lead with 2:44 left. Sophomore Katelynn Nguyen fed Cleary down low out of a timeout for a bank shot to close to within 58-55 with 1;31 left, but Criswell hit five straight foul shots to seal it. 

CMS had the upper hand early, with a three-pointer from junior guard Lauren Longo putting the Athenas ahead 13-6 at the 4:46 mark of the first quarter. Chapman clawed back within 15-12, but a lay-up from senior forward Ellery Koelker-Wolfe with 31 seconds left gave the Athenas a 17-12 lead after the first 10 minutes. 

Chapman began the second quarter with its most sustained run of the game, outscoring CMS 14-4 over a span of six minutes to take a 26-21 lead on a three-pointer from Hamaguchi. Longo hit a three-pointer to make it 31-30 with 1:17 left, and the Panthers settled for a 32-31 lead at the break. 

Longo's third three-pointer of the game tied the score at 38-38 with six minutes left in the third quarter, but Chapman was able to forge back in front 46-41 heading into the fourth. Nguyen helped spark CMS off the bench to begin the fourth, feeding Koelker-Wolfe for a lay-up and then driving to the basket for a lay-up to make it 46-45 and start an 8-2 run that gave the Athenas the lead, but Chapman took the momentum back for the pivotal closing stretch. 

Clearly added seven rebounds with her 17 points, as she was the only CMS player in double figures. Longo finished with nine points on three three-pointers, while Bogle had five steals defensively. Criswell finished with a game-high 18 points for Chapman, including eight Panther points in a row down the stretch, while Jaryn Fajardo had 15 points, five rebounds, seven assists and no turnovers. 

CMS will be back in action when it travels to Pomona-Pitzer on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. contest, before returning home on Sunday to meet UC Santa Cruz.