Takaoka hits 1,000, but No. 24 Bruins spoil Chapman's home debut

ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University women's basketball team made its home debut on Saturday and nearly upset No. 24-ranked George Fox University, falling 65-62 to the visiting Bruins at the Hutton Sports Center. Panthers' senior G Kimi Takaoka scored a game-high 26 points and became just the 10th player in school history to eclipse the 1,000 point plateau for her career.

Trailing by three, Chapman (2-1) had the ball twice in the final 30 seconds with a chance to tie, but three-point attempts by Takaoka and junior G Lynne Higashigawa were both off the mark. George Fox (4-0) allowed the Panthers to remain in the game by making just 37 percent of its free throw attempts (10 of 27), including 6 of 18 in the second half.

The nationally-ranked Bruins led the entire second half, but never by more than seven points. Chapman cut the deficit to a point at 52-51 with 6:18 remaining on a basket by Higashigawa, but that was the closest it would get. Twice in the final 69 seconds did the Panthers get within two points, but couldn't even the score.

Takaoka's 26 points were an early-season high on 9 of 23 shooting, including a pair of three-pointers. She needed just five points to reach 1,000 making her the sixth Division III player in Chapman history to accomplish the feat, most recently accomplished by Linda Ly '10.

Sophomore F Sandra Gao added 19 points and seven rebounds for the Panthers.

George Fox was led by G Justine Benner's 23 points, nine rebounds and three assists. Hayley Cusick pitched in 11 points and six rebounds. The Bruins out-rebounded Chapman 39-29 in the game and had six blocked shots.

Chapman will not play again until Dec. 5 when it travels to Redlands for its SCIAC opener at 7:30 p.m. The Panthers return home to face Cal Lutheran in another conference matchup on Dec. 7 at 7 p.m.

by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director

Boxscore: http://chapmanathletics.com/sports/wbkb/2013-14/boxscores/20131123_lsi8.xml

Become a fan of Chapman Athletics on Facebook
Follow Chapman Athletics on Twitter @ChapmanSports
Post your #PantherPic to Instagram @ChapmanSports
#CUPanthers