Chapman pulls away in second half to beat La Verne 79-58

Chapman pulls away in second half to beat La Verne 79-58

ORANGE, Calif. — The La Verne women's basketball team played its best half of basketball to open the game gainst Chapman but couldn't keep pace in the second half in a 79-58 loss on Wednesday night at Hutton Center.

Faye Osburn notched the first double-double of her career, scoring 10 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.

The Leopards (0-11, 0-2 SCIAC) got off to an excellent start. La Verne shot 51.7 percent from the field in the first half including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc and Alexa Withers controlled the paint on both ends to the tune of 12 points and seven rebounds in the half. The Leopards never allowed the Panthers to get into a rhythm and took a 36-32 lead into the break.

But Chapman (5-6, 2-0) completely flipped the script in the second half. The Panthers outrebounded La Verne 27-11 in the second half and forced the Leopards into 16 second half turnovers. Chapman held a 32-6 edge in points off turnovers for the game.

La Verne did hang tough until early in the fourth quarter. A layup by Nyjeeiah Ganan to open the fourth quarter got the Leopards within 54-52 but Chapman went on a 18-2 run in the next four minutes to break the game wide open.

Withers finished the game with 12 points and eight rebounds. Brianna Bishop scored 12 points and Ganan added 11 off the bench.

Chapman's Megan Charles led all players with 21 points. Jaryn Fajardo had 15 points, seven assists and five steals and Irma Munoz finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

The Leopards return to action on Saturday at home against Occidental.