Longo (19), Millan (13) Set Career Highs as CMS Women's Basketball Rolls Past Hendrix to Stay Unbeaten

SAINT LOUIS, Mo. - Senior Lauren Longo set new career highs with 19 points and five three-pointers, and junior guard Maezelle Millan added a career-high 13 points, as the No. 21 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's basketball team moved to 6-0 on the year with an 87-50 win over Hendrix on Friday afternoon on the first day of the McWilliams Classic, hosted by Washington University.

The Athenas improve to 6-0 for the first time since the 2003-04 team began the season 7-0, which remains the best start in program history. Hendrix, meanwhile, falls to 2-6 with the loss. 

The score was relatively close at the half, with CMS holding a 40-28 lead after sophomore forward Flora Durgerian closed out the half with a lay-up off a feed from Millan with six seconds left. For the third game in a row, though, the Athenas made the necessary halftime adjustments and raised their game to another level in the third quarter, outscoring the Warriors 26-12 to take control. CMS also outscored Nebraska Wesleyan 37-12 in the third quarter on Friday and Gustavus Adolphus 19-6 in the third on Saturday after trailing at the half in both contests to win both games at the David Wells Classic.  

Millan started out the second half with a layup and senior forward Lindsey Cleary had a second-chance basket to make the score 44-28. Junior guard Kelly Keene then had a steal and a layup to push the lead to 46-28 and force a Hendrix timeout just 1:39 into the second half. Junior forward Kate Parrish had two foul shots to make it a 10-0 run spanning both halves, and an 8-0 run out of the locker room, pushing the lead to 20 points. 

Hendrix broke the run with a jumper at the 6:18 mark, but Millan and Parrish made layups, and two Longo three-pointer gave CMS a 61-33 lead with 2:31 left in the third, and the Athenas weren't challenged the rest of the way. 

Longo got CMS jump-started in the first quarter, hitting two straight three-pointers 25 seconds apart to turn a 3-2 deficit into an 8-3 lead that the Athenas would not relinquish. First-year Jacey Carter hit a three-pointer to make it a 10-point lead at 13-3, and after a Hendrix layup, Longo hit her third three-pointer in the game's first four minutes to give CMS a 16-5 advantage at the 6:08 mark of the first quarter. 

After a three-pointer from junior guard Katelynn Nguyen made the score 21-5 with 4:18 left in the first, Hendrix was able to settle in and stay within 12 points at the half. The Warriors got as close as 26-22 with 4:26 left in the second quarter, but Millan and sophomore Kellie Okamura made lay-ups to get CMS back ahead 31-22, and a layup from senior Gloria Bates got the lead back up 36-24 with 2:04 to go in the half, before the Athenas settled for a 40-28 lead at intermission. 

Longo shot 5-6 from three-point territory to finish with 19 points, passing her previous highs of 11 points and three three-pointers, which she accomplished on multiple occasions, including earlier this season against Puget Sound. Millan's 13 points also passed her career high of 12, which she set as a first-year against La Verne, while she also added five assists and four steals on the day. The Athenas also had 42 bench points, led by eight apiece from Durgerian and Okamura. 

CMS will be back in action tomorrow when it faces host WashU on the second day of the McWilliams Classic, beginning at 5 p.m. Pacific time (7 p.m. local).