Streaky Panthers earn share of first place with win over La Verne
ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University women's basketball team held off a second half comeback from the University of La Verne at the Hutton Sports Center on Thursday night, defeating the Leopards by a score of 78-68. The Panthers' sixth win in their last seven contests against La Verne moves them in to a three-way tie for first place in the SCIAC standings.
Senior G Kimi Takaoka, who was named SCIAC Female Athlete of the Week on Tuesday, scored 18 points in the contest, taking sole possession of fifth place on the Panthers' all-time scoring leaderboard. Pushing her career tally to 1,280, Takaoka passed Caroline Jensen ('04) and is poised to eclipse Melody Earle ('95) for fourth place, needing just 55 total points with 10 games remaining.
The game began as a back-and-forth contest and was tied at 12-12 when the Panthers went on an 11-0 run in just over a three minute span, taking a 23-13 lead. A pair of late three pointers from junior G Andrea Villanueva and Takaoka spurred an 8-1 run, giving the Panthers a 40-24 lead entering halftime.
The Panthers built a 50-30 second half lead, but the Leopards roared back with an offensive surge led by C Emily Myers. The sophomore, who scored all 17 of her points in the second half on 6-of-9 shooting brought the Leopards to within five points with just over four minutes left on the clock. The comeback was halted by Villanueva, who secured the win for the Panthers by scoring nine of her game-high 20 points in the final five minutes of the contest.
The Panthers will be back on the hard court at the Hutton on Saturday night as they play host to the Occidental Tigers. The matchup, which will follow the men's game with a 7 p.m. tip-off, marks the first meeting between the two teams this season.
Box score: http://chapmanathletics.com/sports/wbkb/2013-14/boxscores/20140116_f5vx.xml
by Mike Schwartz
Sports Information Intern
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