CMS Women's Basketball Falls Short in 69-64 Loss to Caltech

PASADENA, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's basketball team held a four-point lead late in the third period on the road, but fell short in a back-and-forth game as Caltech captured a 69-64 victory on Saturday afternoon at Braun Athletic Center.

With the win, Caltech improves to 8-9 overall and 5-6 in the SCIAC, while CMS slips to 4-15 overall and 2-9 in league play with the loss. 

Mary Markaryan led CMS with 20 points and nine rebounds, while Tanya Ghai added 11. Kathryn Edwards led all scorers with 34 points for Caltech. 

The Athenas took a five point, 15-10 lead in the first period after a Syona Mandyam layup. CMS made 7-of-12 field goals through the first 10 minutes of play while holding a 15-14 advantage. The Beavers outscored the Athenas 13-10 in the second quarter and took a 27-25 lead into halftime. 

CMS led 39-35 after a Katie Resendiz three-pointer with just over three minutes to go in the third before the Beavers closed the period on a 9-2 run.

Edwards made two free throws to give Caltech a 60-49 lead with 4:18 left in the fourth but the Athenas quickly responded with an 11-4 run to get within two after Ghai converted a pair of from the charity stripe with 1:27 remaining.

Trailing 66-62 with 34 seconds left to play, Markaryan was fouled and made two shots from the foul line to get CMS back within two, 66-64 with 17 seconds remanining but the Beavers were able to close out the game with three more free throws.

CMS will return to action on Wednesday when it travels to Occidental for a 7 p.m. contest.