Takaoka scores 34 as Chapman tops La Verne 97-93 in a track meet

ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University women's basketball team overcame a 12-point, first-half deficit and were led by the 34 points from sophomore G Kimi Takaoka to pull out a 97-93 win over the University of La Verne on Friday night at the Hutton Center in the home-opener. The last time Chapman scored as many points was last season against La Verne.

Down by as many as 12 points in the first half at 25-13 after a three-pointer by La Verne junior F Christina Kinney, Chapman (2-3) went on a 9-0 run to narrow La Verne's lead to 25-24 with 9:29 remaining in the half. Five different players scored for Chapman during the run.

La Verne (0-3) gave up the lead to Chapman at the 6:52 mark on a bucket by junior F Liz Hartnett. After three ties and two lead changes, Chapman closed out the half up 52-47. Hartnett had 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Panthers.

In the second half, La Verne regained the lead 60-58 after a pair of free throws by junior F Amanda McGinnis and built its lead up to as many six points at 73-67 with 11:57 remaining. Then Takaoka took over for Chapman scoring 10 of the Panthers' 12 points, highlighted by a pair of three-pointers during a decisive 12-0 run which gave Chapman the lead for good at 79-73 with 8:58 remaining.

Takaoka's 34 points fell just four shy of the school record of 38 accomplished twice, last by Nicole Hayman in 2007 against La Sierra University. It is the most scored by a Chapman player since Lauren Kamiyama scored 33 against Occidental, also in 2007. Takaoka connected on 12 of her 18 field goal attempts, including a perfect 5-for-5 from both the free throw, and three-point lines.

Chapman had five players in double-figures. In addition to Takaoka and Hartnett, junior G Anne Yoshimura had 19 points followed by 13 from freshman PG Andrea Villanueva and 12 from junior G Emily McCoy.

La Verne saw some stellar play from its bench with three of its four double-figure scorers not in the starting lineup. Sophomore reserve G Kelly Kika had a team-high 17 points. As a team, La Verne's bench outscored Chapman's 57-4.

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by Chris Watts
Sports Information Assistant

Boxscore: http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/wbkb/2011-12/boxscores/20111202_d5nl.xml