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Orange, CA— The Occidental Tigers were in action in Orange, CA taking on the Chapman Panthers on Wednesday night. 

Oxy got off to a strong scoring start in the game as they took a quick 7-0 lead but Chapman responded with a 7-0 run of their own and the game was tied at 7 after 4 minutes of play. Paige Yasukochi knocked down a three-pointer to give Oxy a 10-7 lead to stop the Chapman run. 

The rest of the quarter was hard fought as both teams traded baskets, but eventually Chapman led 14-13 after 1 quarter of play. In the 2nd quarter, Chapman was up 17-15 when Dara Tokeshi made a 3-pointer to give Oxy the lead and then Michelle Lagunas-Monroy extended the lead with a layup in the paint. 

Toni Thompson would make a layup and Gabriela Etopio would knock down two free throws. Dominique Cabading quickly scored 5 points of her own with a layup and a 3-pointer before Amaia McCoy was also able to get a layup to fall and Oxy had put a 16-0 run together to take a 31-17 lead with 3:27 left to play in the half. 

The Panthers closed the half strong and were able to cut the lead down to 7 before halftime as OXy took a 32-25 lead into the locker rooms. Oxy's lead would remain around 7 points for much of the 3rd quarter but Chapman eventually put a run together to tie the game at 44. 

Cabading responded for Oxy with a made layup while also creating contact and creating a 3-point play opportunity that she would convert to give Oxy a 3 point lead. Gabriela Etopio made a layup on the next possession to get the lead to 5 points but Chapman responded with a made basket and the score was 49-46 Tigers going into the 4th and final quarter. 

The game was tied at 50 with 7 and a half minutes to play before Chapman took a lead on a layup. Toni Thompson took over and scored on the next two Oxy possessions to give the lead right back to Oxy, but Chapman tied the game at 54 on the next play. 

After a Paige Yasukochi made layup, a Thompson made layup on the next possession had OXy up 4 points with 4 minutes to go in the game. Then Thompson drew contact on a shot to get to the line and made both free throws to make the score 60-54 Oxy. 

Chapman responded with a 4-0 run before Ainsley Shelsta made a clutch layup with less than a minute in the game to give Oxy a 62-58 lead. The Panthers made a layup on their next possession and then were able to knock down a clutch 3-pointer to give them a 1 point lead with 39 seconds to play. 

Down 65-62, Paige Yasukochi nearly made the game tying 3-pointer but Chapman secured the rebound on the miss and was able to control the ball to seal the win by a score of 68-64. Despite the loss the Tigers remain in 4th place in the SCIAC with a 7-3 SCIAC record and are only 1 game behind 2nd place in the standings. 

Oxy's next game will be against 3rd place La Verne at home in Rush Gymnasium on Saturday, January 27th at 4:00pm. Be sure to come out to support your Tigers in a big matchup!