Athenas Pull Away in Fourth Quarter to Defeat Bearcats, 69-53

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director

CLAREMONT, Calif. -- Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) outscored Willamette University by 13 points in the fourth quarter to pull away from the Bearcats for a 69-53 women's basketball victory on Friday, Nov. 27 in the David Wells Classic. The Athenas, who are hosting the tournament at the Linde Activities Center, improved to 4-0 on the season. Willamette, which lost for the first time this year, fell to 2-1.

Kailee Severt led the Athenas with 22 points and made 9 of 13 field goals. Jai Dungca tacked on 11 points and Kayalin Akens-Irby scored 10. Dungca also contributed three assists and three steals. Quinn Glosniak provided CMS with a game-high seven rebounds.

Kylie Towry (Jr./So., G, Medford, OR/South Medford HS) topped Willamette with 16 points, while Alex Wert (Jr., F, Spokane, WA/St. George's HS) earned 12 points. Towry was 6 of 9 from the field, inlcuding 3 of 5 on three-pointers.

Madi Andresen (So., F, Forest Grove, OR/Forest Grove HS) scored eight points and hauled down five rebounds for the Bearcats. Ashley Evans (So., PG, Canby, OR/Canby HS) also tallied eight points while recording four assists.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps led just 26-23 at halftime and 41-38 after three quarters, but gained a 28-15 advantage in the fourth quarter to clinch the win.

Dungca scored eight seconds into the final period on a jump shot. After Andresen pulled WU within 43-40 on a layup, the Athenas went on a 10-0 run to take control of the game.

The run began with a 3-pointer by Severt. Kris Brackman added a jumper, before Severt hit another 3-pointer for a 51-40 advantage. Mara Falahee completed the offensive surge with a layup at the 6:07 mark.

Willamette scored the next five points on a 3-point shot from Evans and a layup by Towry to cut the margin to 53-45 with 5:05 left. Baskets by Claire Donnelly and Severt extended the CMS lead to 57-45.

The Bearcats reduced the lead to single digits two more times, including 59-50 after layup by Wert with 2:17 remaining. CMS closed the game with a 10-3 run.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps shot 60% for the game (27 of 45), including 69.6% (16 of 23) in the second half. Willamette connected on just 32% of its shots in the first half (8 of 25), but improved to 48% (12 of 25) over the final 20 minutes to finish at 40.% overall.

WU hit 7 of 23 three-pointers (30.4%) and made 6 of 9 free throws. CMS put through 3 of 10 three-point shots and sank 12 of 14 free throws (85.7%). The Athenas recorded a 31-19 rebounding edge.

The game began with a low-scoring first quarter, as CMS took a 9-7 lead into the second period. Even so, the first 10 minutes featured two ties and three lead changes.

CMS opened the second quarter by scoring seven of the first 10 points to extend its margin to 16-10 with 7:20 remaining. The Bearcats answered with a 7-0 run that included a 3-pointer by Towry and ended with a jumper by Wert at the 5:39 mark.

After Dungca and Towry exchanged baskets, WU led 19-18 with 3:58 on the clock. The Athenas scored the next eight points, including six points by Akens-Irby, for a 26-19 advantage.

Andresen tallied the final four points of the half for Willamette. She scored on a traditional three-point play with 44 seconds to go, and then hit the first of two free throws with two seconds left.

Willamette tied the score at 26-26 in the first minute of the second half, and moved in front 29-28 a bit later on a 3-pointer by Evans with 7:57 left in the third quarter. CMS scored the next four points on a layup and a jumper by Severt. The Bearcats tied the game two more times, including 34-34 on a layup by Wert.

The Athenas countered with a layup by Glosniak and a 3-pointer from Dungca for a five-point cushion. WU reduced the lead to three-points entering the final period.

Willamette will conclude the David Wells Classic by playing Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.) on Saturday (Nov. 28) at 7 p.m. (PST). Pomona-Pitzer lost to University of Puget Sound on Friday, 84-67.