After two consecutive SCIAC wins, the University of La Verne women's basketball stepped out of conference play to face Chapman University at home. In a battle of the cats, it was the Panthers who would prevail in a 55-41 triumph over the Leopards Tuesday night at Frantz Athletic Court.
Chapman's defense limited the Leopards to just 29.8% shooting for the night while also forcing 29 turnovers.
The Panthers jumped out to an 19-9 lead before the Leos reeled off seven straight points to close the margin to 19-16 with 5:09 remaining before intermission.
That would be as close as the Leopards would get as consecutive three-pointers from Kimi Takaoka lifted Chapman to a 25-16 advantage to propel the visitors to a 16-3 run to close the first half with a 35-19 cushion at the break.
Chapman (18-4) maintained its lead through much of the second half and led by as many as 23 points before the Leopards ended the game on an 11-2 run.
The Leopard offense managed just two three-pointers on 17 attempts. Moreover, the Panthers dished out 18 assists compared to 4 for La Verne.
The Leos (7-11) did earn a 39-31 rebounding edge on the Panthers.
Simone Ibbotson led the Panthers with 11 points while Takaoka and Brandi Hood collected 9 points each.
Emily Carrillo finished with a game-high 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field while teammate Megan Musashi added 9 points.
The Leopards resume conference action on Thursday as they travel to Pasadena to take on Caltech in a 7:30 pm tip-off.
