Late Run Carries Occidental Women's Basketball Past CMS

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's basketball team got a career-high 20 points from first-year Tanya Ghai and held a lead early in the fourth quarter in a back-and-forth contest, but Occidental went on a 15-0 run over the final five minutes to take an 83-67 win over the Athenas on Wednesday evening at Roberts Pavilion.

With the win, Occidental improves to 10-2 overall and 4-2 in the SCIAC, as it got 35 points from Toni Thompson, while CMS slips to 3-11 overall and 1-5 in league play. 

Occidental went up by three (60-57) with a buzzer beater to end the third on an inbounds play with 0.6 seconds left, but CMS regrouped and went ahead 63-62 on a scoop lay-up from Ghai with 6:30 to go.

The Tigers scored the next six points, and Ghai cut the lead to 68-65 with two foul shots with 5:14 to go, but Occidental then scored the next 15 points to pull away, with the run finally broken in the final minute on a jump shot from Cate Shingler. 

Ghai recently shot 6-6 from the floor in the fourth quarter, including a buzzer-beater for the win, in a 54-51 win over Wheaton on Dec. 30, and had the look in her eye that she might do it again, hitting eight of her first nine shots from the floor against Occidental. Her 20 points passed her previous high of 19 set at Redlands, while Mary Markaryan added 16 and Kaite Resendiz chipped in with 11. 

CMS will be back in action on Monday night when it travels to Whittier for a 7 p.m. contest.