Dominant defense leads women's basketball to win over CMS
ORANGE, Calif. – A program-best start became even better as the Chapman University women's basketball team locked down Claremont-Mudd-Scripps for a 68-56 victory. With the win, the Panthers (12-3, 7-0) won for the sixth straight game and took sole possession of first place in the SCIAC.
Junior Jaryn Fajardo was just shy of a triple-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. All 14 of her points came in the second half as the Panthers erased a halftime deficit. Senior Jaime Hum-Nishikado led the Panthers with 19 points and sophomore Lucy Criswell scored 16 points to go along with seven boards, four steals, two assists and a pair of blocks.
Neither team could find a rhythm offensively to start the game as Chapman led 8-5 after the first 10 minutes. CMS (12-3, 5-1 SCIAC) quickly pulled ahead in the second quarter, sinking 8-of-16 shots and 6-of-9 free throws, to outscore the Panthers 22-14 in the quarter and take a 27-22 lead into the locker room.
Chapman was just 2-of-12 from the three-point line in the first half but Hum-Nishikado and Criswell found their strokes in the second half, knocking down five threes to help the Panthers pull ahead.
Hum-Nishikado and Fajardo combined for seven points right out of the break to pull Chapman even at 29-29 less than three minutes into the third quarter. A three-pointer from Teeana Contangco put the Athenas back in front but Criswell answered back 90 seconds later with a three of her own to tie it back up at 32-32.
Fajardo gave the Panthers their first lead of the second half as she drove and banked in a layup high off the glass to make it 34-32. After getting a stop on the ensuing possession, senior Sydney Olivier found sophomore Rachel Williams all alone under the basket for an easy lay in to make it 36-32.
Chapman completed its 7-0 run to take the lead with another three from Hum-Nishikado to make it 39-32 with three minutes to go in the third. After Contangco's three-pointer, the Athenas were held without a basket from the final seven minutes of the quarter. CMS did take advantage from the charity stripe, where the Athenas went a combined 5-for-7 in the quarter, but the Panthers continued to pull away and took a 44-37 lead into the fourth.
Chapman's defense continued to lock down the struggling Athenas in the fourth as the visitors shot just 3-of-18 from the floor with all three of those shots coming from beyond the arc. CMS continued to get to the line to stay in the game but led by as much as 13 after shooting 50 percent in the final quarter. It wasn't until the 4:26 mark that Contagco sank another three-pointer to end a 12-plus minute drought without a made field goal.
She sank another one less than a minute later but CMS went on another drought until the final minute when Kailee Severt drained her only three-pointer of the game to bring CMS within 10.
Hum-Nishikado and Criswell each scored their final seven points in the fourth quarter to lead the Panthers. Chapman also knocked down 12-of-16 free throws down the stretch to keep CMS out of striking distance.
CMS used frequent trips to the free throw line to stay in the game. The Athenas were 22-of-33 from the line while Chapman was 17-of-21. Contagco had 10 points off the bench for the Athenas and Maya Love scored 11 points to go along with her eight rebounds. CMS shot just 25.4 percent in the game and only 15 percent in the second half.
The Panthers defeated CMS for the first time since 2014 and continued its program-best run to start conference play. Chapman will look to stay undefeated when they head to Occidental on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. game.
By Steven Olveda
Sports Information Director
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