La Verne, CA - The University of La Verne women's basketball team hosted Claremont Mudd Scripps College for today's basketball matchup.
The Leopards entered the game, holding tight to their number one seed in the SCIAC, looking to remain undefeated. The Athenas looked to win to stay in second place in the conference standings. The first quarter was an exchange of basks, with both teams battling to set the tone early. Both teams struggled to extend their lead by more than five points, and halftime adjustments were a crucial factor in the game. The Leopards jumped to a ten-point lead in the 3rd quarter highlighting their athleticism and skilled scoring. CMS hit two three-pointers in a row to bring them back in the fourth quarter. Ultimately the Leopards prevailed and remained undefeated in the SCIAC, making key plays to seal their win against the Athenas by a final score of 77-67. The win moved the Leopards record to 19-1 and 11-0 in SCIAC play.
Three-point specialist Marissa Howell led the Leopards with 26 points, six threes, two of which were the game-sealing points in the Leopard's win. Dejanee Gill controlled the boards with 16 rebounds and 10 points for a double-double for the night. Head coach Jason Pruitt understood the importance of tonight's win. "Our team's first-half performance was unacceptable. It's not who we are and not what we practice every day. We're continuing to learn. Especially now is the time we have to put things together. We'll look at it and get better. That was a tournament environment. Sometimes you have to learn to play like that. It was a total team effort. Dejanee is one of the most underrated players in the conference. She guards the best player on every team, while still scoring and rebounding. She is third in the conference rebounding (9.4 rebounds per game) from the guard spot and still averages double figures in scoring, Top 10 in steals , Tied for 3rd in blocks, and the list goes on! But still hasn't been defensive player of the week this season. Marissa coming up and doing the things she needed to do. It's been very beneficial. The second half was critical, some of the shots she hit were huge. We thank God for a tough, hard-fought game, 40 minutes against a really good opponent. Give CMS a lot of credit. We just made a couple more plays down the stretch than they did. Credit to our players and our coaches. Tough win, so we'll enjoy this and get ready for Chapman on Saturday."
The Leopards will travel to Chapman University Saturday, February 4th, at 2 PM for their next conference matchup.
