Cold shooting in second half costs Chapman in third straight loss

ORANGE, Calif. – A five-point Panthers lead with 8:08 remaining in the game quickly unraveled and the Chapman University women's basketball team dropped its third straight game 66-51 to visiting Cal State San Marcos at the Hutton Center on Saturday night. It's the Panthers' eighth loss in their last 10 games as they fall to .500 on the season (12-12).

Chapman led 42-37 with just over 8 minutes remaining thanks to one of four three-pointers in the game from senior F Stephanie Servin. The Panthers had led for much of the second half in a game which, to this point, no team had trailed by more than six points.

However, Cal State San Marcos went on a 15-1 run over the next four minutes and held Chapman without a field goal for over six minutes to take a commanding lead and win going away. The Panthers didn't score another bucket until the 1:46 mark in the second half on a jumper from junior G Liz Hartnett which pulled Chapman within seven at 54-47. Forced to foul, the Cougars made 10 of 12 free throws in the final 1:26 to earn a 15-point victory.

The Panthers' cold shooting in the second half (7 of 25 from the field; 28.0 percent) extended to the free throw line as well where they made just one of seven free throws (14.3 percent) in the half and shot just 40.9 percent (9 of 22) from the charity stripe in the game.

It was a promising start for Chapman, looking to avenge a six-point road loss to San Marcos last month. After exchanging the lead several times with the Cougars, the Panthers carried a 30-27 advantage into halftime thanks, in part, to three triples from Servin who finished with 12 points on the night.

Junior G Emily McCoy also scored 12 points and added three steals in the game and Hartnett finished with nine points for Chapman.

San Marcos closed out its regular season with a 16-14 overall mark, including winning five of its final six games. Junior G Sidney Dobner led all scorers with 18 points and added three assists for the Cougars.

Chapman will look to clinch its 18th consecutive winning season on Feb. 25 when the Panthers will host UC Santa Cruz at Hutton Center at 1 p.m. for 'Senior Day'.

by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director

Results: http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/wbkb/2011-12/boxscores/20120218_m28g.xml

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