Panthers fall in fourth quarter to CMS

ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University women's basketball team hung tough with the defending SCIAC Tournament Champions in a 58-52 loss to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Wednesday night at the Hutton Sports Center. 

In the Panthers SCIAC season opener Chapman traded leads with the Athenas 12 times before falling to Claremont in the fourth quarter. Chapman edged a seven point lead at the start of the fourth quarter, but the Athenas battled back hitting a 22-11 run to capture the win with less than a minute left in the game. 

The Panthers and Athenas maintained a narrow battle in the first half with neither team gaining more than a two point advantage through the first 15 minutes of the game. Athenas Alyson Young had the hot hand in the second quarter scoring eight of Claremont's 12 points to tie the game up 22-22 at the end of the first half.

In the third quarter, the Panthers broke away taking a 37-32 lead with junior Megan Charles hitting back-to-back jumpers from inside the paint with less than a minute left to give the Panthers their five point lead. 

Freshman Katelyn Serizawa led the Panthers with 13 points and two assists. The Panthers forced 10 turnovers scoring on each one and contributed 12 points from the bench on Wednesday night.

The Panthers will travel to Santa Cruz, Calif. for three games in three days beginning with Earlham on Saturday, Dec. 19. Chapman will then return home for the Chapman Winter Classic beginning on December 19.

by Raquel Rinauro
Sports Information Assistant

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