Masuno Leads Charge as CMS Women's Basketball Pulls Away from La Verne

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Austyn Masuno had an impressive stat line of 15 points, 17 rebounds, eight assists, four blocks and three steals as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's basketball team outscored La Verne 49-21 in the second half as it pulled away for an 82-50 win on Wednesday evening at Roberts Pavilion.

With the win, CMS moves to 10-10 overall and 7-4 in SCIAC play with just two weeks left in the regular season. La Verne, which won the first meeting with CMS back in December, slips to 10-9 overall and 3-8 in the SCIAC. 

Masuno was one of five Athenas to finish in double figures in scoring, tying Jacey Carter for team-high honors with 15 points. Flora Durgerian was right behind with 14 points, Grace Florendo had 12 off the bench, and Mary Markaryan added a career-high 10 points off the bench as well. 

It was Masuno's passing that got CMS off to a quick start as she assisted on the first four CMS baskets as the Athenas raced out to a 25-16 lead after the first quarter. La Verne was able to tighten up its defense in the second quarter, though, to get back into it, pulling within 33-29 at the break, as Masuno picked up two more assists in the closing minute to Gwen Gilmore to keep CMS in front. 

After halftime, though, CMS pulled away with its defense, outscoring La Verne 20-10 in the third quarter to surge ahead 53-39 heading into the fourth, and then shot 12-17 in the fourth quarter as a team to stretch the final margin out to 32 points. 

The Leopards were still within 40-37 with four minutes left in the third, before CMS closed on a 13-2 run. Durgerian started it with a jumper, Carter had a jumper, Masuno had five points, Florendo hit two foul shots, and Markaryan capped it off with a jumper. A 10-0 run in the fourth then stretched it from 57-45 to 67-45 and effectively put the game away, as Carter scored eight of the points on two three-pointers and a Eurostep lay-up on the fast break. 

CMS held La Verne to just 26.1 percent shooting on the day (18-69), while shooting over 50 percent on its offensive end (34-66, 51.5 percent). 

CMS will be back in action on Saturday when it travels to Chapman for a key SCIAC road contest, before returning home to face Caltech on Monday night at 7 p.m.