Occidental ends Chapman's win streak at 12

Chapman (13-4) trailed for the majority of the game, leading just briefly in the first half. Occidental led by as many as 11 at the midpoint of the second half, but Chapman came back to get within two points. At the end of the second half, Panthers' senior G Casey Gomez stole a pass from Tigers' freshman G Michelle Lo and took it the other way for a lay up to cut Occidental's lead to 51-49 with 59 seconds left in the game. Gomez had a team-high 14 points for Chapman while Lo had 18 for Occidental. Also for the Tigers senior F Stephanie Babij had a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

Occidental (5-6) then put the game away at the free-throw line making 10-consecutive free throws in the last minute to get the road win. The Tigers scored 16 of their 30 second-half points at the free-throw line but had just six field goals.

Occidental obtained its first substantial lead in the first half with a 6-0 run near the eight minute mark capped off by a three-point play by Lo to give the Tigers an 18-11 lead. Chapman shrunk the Tigers' lead to four with five minutes left in the first half on a jumper by senior G Christina Ly but Occidental then stretched its advantage to 31-21 at halftime.

At the 14:28 mark of the second half, the Panthers fought the lead back down to four points on a strong inside move from senior C Brandi Hood. Chapman's center had a team-high eight rebounds to go along with 11 points. That was the closest the game would be until the final minute of the game.

by Robert Flicker
Sports Information Intern