Emily Carrillo sparked the Leopard offense with a game-high 24 points to go along with 8 rebounds in helping lead La Verne to a 63-54 triumph over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in SCIAC action Thursday night at Frantz Athletic Court.
La Verne outscored CMS 9-0 in the latter stages of the conrest to secure the win as the Athenas missed eight consecutive shots during a four-minute span.
The Leos trailed 51-50 with over five minutes remaining before Carrillo hit a jumper to regain the lead at 52-51. After a missed three-point attempt from CMS, Mayra Duenas drilled a three-pointer to extend the Leopard advantage to 55-51. Both Carrillo and Amanda Copas would add a pair of free throws, giving La Verne a 59-51 cushion with 1:08 to play.
CMS guard Aria Krumwiede hit a triple with 48 seconds to close the gap to 59-54, but the Athenas would not score again as the Leopards closed out with four additional free throws to claim victory.
La Verne limited CMS to a season-low 54 points. The Athenas entered the contest with a league best 72.1 points per game scoring average.
The Leopard defense also held the Athenas, the SCIAC's top three-point shooting team, to a 2-of-15 effort (13.3%) from beyond the arc. Conversely, the Leopards made 8 of their 20 three-point attempts, including a 3-of-6 shooting effort from Duenas, who finished with 18 points.
La Verne (6-10, 3-3 SCIAC) held a 30-26 halftime lead, limiting the Athenas to 11-33 shooting in the first half. The Leos raced out to an early 16-8 lead before CMS responded with a 10-2 run to knot the game at 18-18. The Athenas led 26-25 before a jumper from Duenas followed by a triple from Ashley Paul with three seconds left put the Leopards up by four points at intermission.
Carrillo opened the second half with a jumper to extend the Leopard advantage to six, only to watch CMS reel off eight straight points to retake the lead at 34-32. Consecutive layups from Shelby Barthold pushed the CMS advantage to 42-37.
The Athenas (13-4, 3-3 SCIAC) led 44-39 with 9:21 remaining, but the Leopards forged a tie with a 7-2 run culminating on a Duenas three-pointer with 7:47 to play. The game remained a see-saw affair before the Leopards enjoyed their decisive surge during the final five minutes. All told, the contest included nine ties along with 11 lead changes.
Kalika Tullock tallied a team-high 15 points for the Athenas while Krumwiede added 13 points. Jennifer Ringoen totaled 12 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.
After dropping its first four home games of the season, La Verne finished the month of January a perfect 4-0 at the friendly comfines of Frantz Athletic Court.
La Verne resumes SCIAC action this Saturday as it travels to Claremont to face Pomona-Pitzer in a 5:00 pm tip-off.
