Villanueva career-high, late bucket sinks Cal Lutheran

ORANGE, Calif. – The two teams went back-and-forth the whole night, but Panthers' senior Andrea Villanueva stole the show with late heroics and a career-best 31 points to give the Chapman University women's basketball team a 79-77 victory over Cal Lutheran University in a thriller at the Hutton Sports Center on Monday.

With 14.5 seconds on the clock, the game tied at 77 and Cal Lutheran possessing the sideline inbound, Chapman senior G Nicole Moy forced a five-second call, not allowing any room for the Regals to get the ball in. From there, Villanueva drove to the basket and sunk a layup with 7.8 ticks remaining to put Chapman up by two. It took one final stop in the closing seconds by Chapman's defense to notch the SCIAC victory.

Chapman (8-8 overall, 6-2 SCIAC) has now won seven of nine and climbed back to the .500 mark overall for the first time since Nov. 22. The Panthers are also 6-2 at the midway point in conference play and moved into sole possession of second place in the SCIAC standings.

Despite a strong start to the game by the Panthers, the visiting Regals kept it close for all 40 minutes of play. Chapman held the lead the entire game until Cal Lu was able to jump ahead at 7:43 and extended it to 69-64 late in the second half thanks to a 13-0 run.

The Panthers' comeback was led by Villanueva, whose 31 points included shooting 14 of 22 from the field and a trio of three-pointers. Senior Ivory Hallstein scored 14 points and notched a game-best seven rebounds. Sophomore Courtney Krysl also registered a team-best six assists for the Panthers.

Cal Lutheran (10-6 overall, 5-2 SCIAC) was led by sophomore Jessica Salottolo who scored 19 points and recorded three assists, three steals, and four rebounds. Junior Chelsea Jacoby added 14 points for the Regals.

The Panthers travel on Saturday to face SCIAC opponent Pomona-Pitzer Colleges, looking to make it three wins in a row.

by Bogart Avila
Sports Information Assistant

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