CLAREMONT, Calif. - Senior Ruva Kiara had a career-high 17 points, including nine in the fourth quarter, but the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's basketball team came up just short in its comeback with a 63-59 defeat to Chapman on Saturday at Roberts Pavilion. 

With the loss, CMS slips to 5-8 overall and 1-3 in the SCIAC, while Chapman improves to 6-10 overall and 3-4 in conference play. 

Four players finished in double figures for the Athenas, with Katie Resendiz chipping in with 14, and Amanda Kerner (11) and Grace Florendo (10) combining for 21 off the bench. 

CMS was down 52-45 with five minutes to play, but Kiara had four points around her own steal to quickly get the Athenas back within three. Chapman got the lead back up to six, but two Kiara foul shots brought the Athenas within 55-51 with 3:08 to play. 

The score froze for about two minutes, before Florendo lobbed an inbounds pass over the top of the defense to get the Athenas within two at 55-53. The Panthers answered with four straight points, but Kerner made a stepback three with 29 seconds left to make it a one-possession game at 59-56. 

After the two teams split foul shots, Tanya Ghai forced a held ball that gave CMS the ball down 60-57 with a chance to tie, but Chapman was able to get the stop and hit two free throws to seal it.

CMS will be back in action on Monday night when it hosts La Verne for a 7 p.m. contest.