LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Feb 8, 2007) - First-year point guard Laura
Mohler hit a pair of free throws with no time remaining and the
Occidental women's basketball team stole an important SCIAC
victory from Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Thursday, Feb. 8
at Ducey Gym in Claremont.
The Tigers (12-8, 5-4) remain in a three-way tie for third place in
the league standings with Redlands and defending SCIAC champion Cal
Lutheran. CMS (12-8, 7-2) slid into second place with
the loss.
Mohler tallied just six points in the contest, scoring her
first basket with 2:27 left in the second
half. Lisa Scheele gave the Athenas a seven-point
advantage on a three-pointer moments later but Dior Williams '10
scored the next two Oxy baskets to cut the lead to three.
With half a minute left, Amelia Abernathy '07 drained a jumper
off an assist from Stacie Roshon '08 but Naomi Bagdonas
converted a pair of free throws to build the CMS lead back to
three. Mohler hit a clutch two-pointer and immediately fouled
Bagdonas, who this time missed both free throw attempts.
Down one in the final seconds, the Tigers committed a turnover that
could have cost them the game. Instead, Mohler stole the
ensuing in-bounds pass and drew a foul, setting up the game-winning
free throws.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps dug a hole for itself early on, shooting an
ice-cold three of 22 from the floor in the first half. The
Tigers suffered a scoring drought of their own early in
the second and the Athenas cut a 12-point Occidental lead to
two with a 10-2 run over the next six minutes.
CMS outscored Occidental 17-11 over the next 4 1/2 minutes and held
a modest single-digit lead until the final seconds.
Williams led the Tigers with 16 points but was forced to watch
the final twenty-seven seconds from the bench after fouling out for
the first time all season. Roshon added 12 points and 12
rebounds, posting her third double-double of the campaign.
Next up for Occidental is Pomona-Pitzer (5-15, 2-7 SCIAC), which
defeated Caltech 77-60 Thursday night at the Rains Center in
Claremont. With five games remaining, the Tigers need
one more win to equal last season's win total and three more
to tie their highest total since 1990-91. Tip-off
is scheduled for 5pm at Rush Gym.
