News Release

Orange, CA — The Chapman University men’s and women’s basketball teams hosted and swept a pair of games from the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges at the Harold Hutton Sports Center on Thursday night. Both games provided plenty of drama as the Chapman women needed overtime to defeat the Athenas, while the men edged the Stags by five points in regulation.

The women’s game may very well have been a preview of a first round NCAA tournament game in March with Claremont entering the game with just one loss and a December victory versus the Panthers in Claremont, 71-69. Chapman (11-3) held a double-digit lead through much of the second half and led by 10 with just under four minutes remaining in regulation. But the Athenas outscored the Panthers 12-2 over the final minutes, including six straight points by Allison Welsh, to force an extra period. In that overtime period, the Panthers took advantage of Claremont foul trouble and were sent to the line 18 times, sinking 16 and outscoring the Athenas, 22-11. Senior forward Caroline Jensen scored a team-high 21 points and grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds in the win. Chapman out-rebounded their opponent 46-35. For Claremont (9-2), Sarah Kolbeck led all scorers with 23 points.

In the nightcap, the Chapman men not only snapped their four-game losing streak, they erased a monkey that has been on their back all season – their inability to win the close games. The Panthers entered the game 1-5 in games decided by six points or less, but earned an important regional win versus Claremont tonight, 73-68. Chapman (6-7) ended a tight first half with a layup from sophomore guard Zach Wheatley at the buzzer to take a 40-39 halftime lead. It was all Chapman coming out of the locker rooms in the second half as the Panthers built an eight point lead, only to see it slowly disappear. Later, with the game tied at 64-64 and just under five minutes remaining, freshman guard Danny Krikorian nailed a three-pointer to give the Panthers the lead for good. Freshman guard Patrick Carney made four three-pointers and led all scorers with 21 points in the win. The loss was Claremont’s (4-7) third in a row and marks its longest losing streak of the season.


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Game stats can be found online:
Women’s Game: http://www.chapman.edu/athletics/03-04/wbasketball/cms-cu.htm
Men’s Game: http://www.chapman.edu/athletics/03-04/mbasketball/cms-cu.htm

NEXT CU WOMEN’S GAME: Saturday, January 10th vs. Cal Lutheran; 3:00 pm
NEXT CU MEN’S GAME: Saturday, January 10th @ Redlands; 7:30 pm