Panthers hold off CMS rally to earn share of first place
ORANGE, Calif. – With wins in five of its last six contests, the Chapman University women's basketball team has claimed a share of the top spot in the SCIAC conference heading into the final month of play. The achievement did not come easy, however, as the Panthers held off a late rally by Claremont-M-S on Thursday to earn a 73-69 win at the Hutton Sports Center.
After handing the Athenas their first conference loss earlier this month, the Panthers expected a tough battle on their home court. Predictably, Claremont jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, but Chapman responded with a 12-2 run sparked by six points from senior G Kimi Takaoka.
The Panthers dominated the first half of play, taking a 15 point lead into the break thanks to 64 percent shooting from the field (16-of-25) and a perfect mark (7-of-7) from the charity stripe.
Chapman saw their lead grow to as much as 17 points before Claremont began chipping away. Athenas G Kimberly Scamman scored 10 of her game-high 22 points in the half as her team dwindled the Panthers' lead to one point with two minutes remaining.
Despite knocking on the door of an impressive comeback, Claremont was forced to foul several times in the final seconds and junior G Andrea Villanueva put the game on ice for the Panthers, sinking six free throw shots en route to a 19-point performance.
Sophomore F Natalia Ebrahimian, who saw significant playing time off the bench, tallied 14 points while adding nine rebounds in just 21 minutes of play. The forward nearly doubled her season scoring average (7.4 PPG) while coming one rebound shy of a double-double.
The victory, which marked the Panthers' fifth in their last six matchups with the Athenas, boosted Chapman into a first-place tie with the Redlands Bulldogs. Fittingly, Chapman will host the Bulldogs on Saturday in a battle for the top spot in the conference. Tip-off at the Hutton Sports Center is set for 7 p.m.
Box score: http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/wbkb/2013-14/boxscores/20140130_1qiu.xml
by Ryan Cavinder
Sports Information Assistant
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