Women's basketball drops defensive battle to CMS

ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University women's basketball couldn't find its rhythm on the offensive end in a 47-42 loss to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Saturday. The Panthers stayed in the game with a strong defensive effort, forcing 20 turnovers.

It took over seven minutes for the Panthers (9-9, 5-4 SCIAC) to get on the board as they started the game in a 10-0 hole. However, sophomore Madison Shigeta's jumper to end Chapman's scoreless streak sparked an 11-0 run over the next five minutes.

Chapman scored the last nine points of the quarter to get within one to start the second period. Sophomore Brittany McPherson dropped in a layup to give Chapman it's only lead of the night just over one minute into the second quarter. Maezelle Millan answered for CMS just 18 seconds later to regain a 12-11 lead and the Athenas never trailed again.

The Panthers managed just nine points in each of the first three quarters before outscoring the visitors 15-12 in the fourth. The defense forced 20 turnovers but turned those into just 13 points on the other end.

The Athenas lead reached as much as 13 points when it took the Panthers nearly eight minutes to get their first points of the fourth quarter. However, Chapman went on to score 15 points over the final 2:14 of the game to get as close as four points before time ran out.

CMS shot just 45.5 percent from the line and was 7-of-18 in the fourth quarter as the Panthers tried to comeback. Neither team shot well in the SCIAC game as CMS was just over 30 percent and Chapman shot 23 percent for the night. The Athenas drained five of their 11 three-point attempts while Chapman was 2-of-19.

McPherson and senior Lucy Criswell each had 10 points to lead the scoring. Shigeta had 10 rebounds to go along with six points. Lindsey Cleary was the only CMS player in double figures with 10 points.

The Panthers stay home to take on Occidental on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

By Steven Olveda
Sports Information Director

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