Lindsey Cleary Comes up Big at Both Ends as CMS Women's Basketball Earns 46-44 Win over St. Vincent

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Senior Lindsey Cleary came up with a key steal in the final minute of a tie game and followed with a bank shot in the paint with 22.6 seconds remaining to give the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's basketball team a 46-44 win over St. Vincent on its first day at the D3hoops.com Classic at South Point Arena.

With the win, the Athenas improve to 7-2 on the season after an 18-day layoff since its last game at Pomona-Pitzer on Dec. 11, which ended in a two-point defeat. CMS has played four games already this season decided by four points or less and stands at 3-1, with wins over Puget Sound and Gustavus Adolphus as well. St. Vincent slips to 6-4 on the season with the loss.

CMS led by 10 points in the third quarter (38-28), but St. Vincent was able to crawl back in it in the fourth. Cleary had a three-point play with 5:28 left to make it a 43-35 CMS lead, but the Athenas had just one foul shot over a five-minute span as the Bearcats were able to pull even on a Jenna Lafko lay-up with 3:08 left.

After St. Vincent missed five shots to take the lead and the Athenas missed two, Cleary was able to come up with a steal on an entry pass with 44 seconds left. CMS ran its offense, and senior guard Lauren Longo was able to throw a lob pass from the right wing in to Cleary on the low block. Cleary paused to gather herself as the help defense came, and calmly banked in a five-foot shot to give CMS the lead with 22.6 seconds on the clock.

St. Vincent called a timeout and tried to set up a final play to tie or take the lead. The Bearcats worked the ball around, but the Athenas were there on every pass and St. Vincent nearly ended up unable to take a shot. Just before the final horn, Madison Kollar got a pass at the top of the paint area and rushed a shot up before the clock expired, but it hit off the rim as CMS was able to come away with the two-point win.   

The Athenas held a narrow 24-22 lead after a low-scoring first half, but were able to open up a double-digit lead in the third quarter at 38-28 with a 12-3 run keyed by two three-pointers from senior guard Kelly Keene. Leading 26-25, senior guard Gloria Bates and junior guard Maezelle Millan each made two foul shots to start the run. After the Bearcats cut it to 30-27, Keene hit a three-pointer to double the lead with 5:52 left. Bates hit a short jumper to make the score 35-27, and after a St. Vincent foul shot, Keene hit another three to make the score 38-28 with 3:27 left in the third.   

CMS got off to a strong start defensively, taking a 7-0 lead behind five points from junior guard Kelly Keene, and holding St. Vincent without a field goal for the first six minutes. The Bearcats were able to chip away, though, and pulled back even at 7-7. Sophomore forward Jane Baldwin made four straight foul shots to put the Athenas ahead 11-7, but St. Vincent leveled the score with the final four points of the first quarter and added the first four points of the second quarter for a 15-11 lead.

St. Vincent held a 19-13 lead in the second quarter before CMS was able to break loose by getting to the rim for some easy baskets. Sophomore guard Kellie Okamura had a lay-up after breaking the St. Vincent press to close to within 19-15. After two free throws from junior forward Kate Parrish made it 20-17, Bates had a steal and uncontested lay-up, and Millan had another steal and fed sophomore forward Flora Durgerian for a lay-up to give CMS a 21-20 lead with 3:08 left in the half. A Bates jumper in the paint gave CMS a 23-20 lead with 1:51 left to cap a 6-0 run, before CMS settled for a 24-22 lead at the break.

Keene was the only player in double figures for CMS with 11 points, while Bates added eight points and a team-high 10 rebounds off the bench. On a day when the shots weren't falling after the 18-day layoff, the Athenas also came up big at the foul line, where they shot 15-17 on the day.  Kollar had a game-high 19 points for the Bearcats, who were held without a three-point basket (0-9) by the Athena defense.

CMS will be back in action tomorrow on its second day of the D3hoops.com Classic with a big match-up with No. 9 DeSales at 12 p.m.