Lock it Down! CMS Women's Basketball Rides Defensive Dominance to 47-42 Win at Chapman

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's basketball team shut out Chapman for the first 7:10 of the game, and then held the Panthers without a point for over an 11-minute span in the second half as the Athenas came away with a big 47-42 road win at Chapman on Saturday afternoon.

With the win, CMS improves to 11-6 overall and gets back level at 4-4 in the SCIAC, while avenging a double-overtime defeat to Chapman 12 days ago at home. It was also a second consecutive dominant defensive effort for the Athenas, who defeated Occidental 68-28 on Wednesday. The Panthers fall to 9-9 overall and 5-4 in the SCIAC with the loss. 

The Athenas jumped out to a 10-0 lead with its defense out of the gate, and then used a 13-0 run to turn a narrow 28-27 lead late in the third quarter into a 41-27 lead late in the fourth. CMS ended up shutting out Chapman for the final 3:50 of the third and the first 7:46 of the fourth, a total span of 11:36.

The two CMS first-years sparked the run, with guard Jacey Carter hitting two three-pointers, the first one starting the spurt and pushing the lead to four, while forward Austyn Masuno had back-to-back layups to close out the third quarter and give CMS a 35-27 lead heading into the fourth. 

Carter's second three-pointer of the run pushed the lead up to 40-27, anda  foul shot from sophomore Jane Baldwin gave CMS its largest lead at 41-27 with 2:23 to go. Lucy Criswell finally ended the long Chapman drought with a foul shot with 2:14 left, and a Criswell lay-up with 1:34 left ended a Panther field goal drought of 12:16 and made the score 42-31.

After the Panthers got back within eight, Baldwin and junior guard Maezelle Millan each knocked down two foul shots to get the lead back to 10 points on two occasions in the final minute, before the Panthers used a 6-0 run to close to 46-42 with eight seconds left. However, CMS was able to secure the ensuing inbounds pass in the frontcourt, and the Panthers couldn't come any closer. 

Senior forward Lindsey Cleary was the only player in double figures with 10 points, while Masuno chipped in with eight big points off the bench. Senior guard Lauren Longo got CMS started with two early three-pointers, while Carter added two big ones late to finish with six points apiece. The Athenas held Chapman to just 23.8 percent shooting (15-63) and 10.5 percent shooting from three-point land (2-19).

CMS will be back in action on Wednesday night at home against Cal Lutheran, looking to build on its two-game win streak as the second half of the SCIAC schedule begins. The Athenas defeated Cal Lutheran on the road 88-86 earlier this month in an unusually high-scoring game, capturing the win on a last-second basket from Cleary off a baseline inbounds pass.