Chapman wins ninth straight at home

ORANGE, Calif. - The Chapman University women's basketball team led from start to finish, defeating visiting Occidental College 79-59 at the Hutton Sports Center on Saturday night. It was the Panthers' fourth win in their past five games and ninth consecutive home win dating back to last season.

Chapman (6-3) won going away, despite several Occidental spurts that kept the game close. The Tigers cut the deficit to four points with 3:31 remaining in the first half, only to have the Panthers out-score Oxy 14-5 in the closing minutes and take a 41-28 halftime lead. That Chapman run included a buzzer-beater three-pointer by senior G Niki Hayman at the end of the half.

Occidental (2-2) again fought back from a double-digit Chapman lead in the second half, cutting the Panthers' lead to just three points, 58-55 with under nine minutes left. But the Panthers closed the game on a 21-4 run to improve to 3-0 at home this season.

Hayman led all scorers with 25 points, including a trio of three-pointers. Junior G Linda Ly pitched in 19 points of her own and senior C Andrijana Kerkez was a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor with 12 points and seven boards for Chapman. Senior PG Lauren Kamiyama had a career-high 12 assists and added five steals for Chapman, which forced 35 Oxy turnovers in the game.

The Tigers had four players reach double-digits in scoring, including Madeline Rose who had 11 points and eight rebounds.