Carter Leads CMS Women's Basketball to SCIAC-Opening Win over Pomona-Pitzer

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Senior guard Jacey Carter had a career-high 18 points, including a couple of key three-pointers in the fourth quarter, as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's basketball team earned a hard-fought 70-64 win over Pomona-Pitzer in its SCIAC opener on Wednesday at Voelkel Gymnasium.

With the win, CMS levels its record at 3-3 on the year, while starting out conference play 1-0. Pomona-Pitzer slips to 2-5 overall and 0-1 in league play. 

Carter led four Athenas in double figures, as Kayla Ishibashi had 11 points, and Renee Chong and Grace Florendo, who also hit a big fourth quarter three-pointer, each had 10 off the bench. Carter passed her previous high of 16 points, which she set last year against Cal Lutheran. 

CMS led 52-49 heading into the fourth, and the Sagehens opened with a basket to close the deficit to one point. Chong's three-pointer with 7:47 to go put CMS ahead by four, and then after Pomona-Pitzer cut it to two, Carter knocked down a shot from beyond the arc off a Florendo pass to make it 58-53 with 5:55 to play. After an exchange of baskets, Carter hit her second three of the fourth to put CMS up 63-55 with 3:57 left, and Florendo stretched the lead to 11 on the next possession with another three-pointer. 

The Athenas did have to withstand one final rally from Pomona-Pitzer, as Madison Quan scored the next seven points on a three-pointer, a jumper and a layup to make it 66-62 with 55 seconds left. Two Pomona-Pitzer foul shots made it 67-64 with 12 seconds left, and Carter hit the first of two foul shots with 10 seconds left to make it a two-possession game. She missed the second, but Ariana Dalia came up with a clutch offensive rebound, and Chong sealed it with a pair of foul shots. 

CMS got an early leg up with a 12-0 run that turned a 7-5 deficit into a 17-7 lead. Carter started it with a three-pointer, and Mary Markaryan ended it with a jumper. Pomona-Pitzer came back to tie it 21-21, and briefly went in front, but Ishibashi hit a three-pointer to give CMS a 29-26 lead at the break. 

The Sagehens started the second half strong and went ahead 35-31, but Ishibashi and Carter hit consecutive jumpers to tie it, and Ishibashi hit two straight three-pointers around a Pomona-Pitzer layup to put the Athenas up 42-37. Pomona-Pitzer yo-yoed back in front 49-46 with 1:22 left in the third, but Sadie Heckman and Florendo closed out the third with two straight three-pointers to put CMS ahead to stay, leading 52-49 heading into the fourth. 

CMS hit 12-26 from beyond the arc (46.2 percent). Dalia led CMS with 12 rebounds and six assists, helping the Athenas hold a 42-35 advantage on the boards. 

CMS will be back in action on Saturday when it takes on Occidental for a 2 p.m. contest at Roberts Pavilion.