PASADENA, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's basketball team trailed by 17 points with just over five minutes remaining, and came all the way back to have a chance to tie in the final minute, before coming up short in a 65-58 road defeat to Caltech on Monday evening. 

The Athenas, who were playing without leading scorer Renee Chong due to injury, falls to 9-14 overall and 5-9 in the SCIAC, while Caltech improves to 5-9 in league play as the two teams fight for a possible berth in the five-team SCIAC playoffs. The Athenas and Beavers both stand one game behind in the loss column to Pomona-Pitzer, Occidental and Redlands, who are tied for fourth. 

CMS got off to a slow start and trailed 19-5 at the end of the first quarter and 30-16 at the half. The Beavers established their largest lead of 17 points three times in the fourth quarter, the last coming with 5:37 to go, before CMS almost came all the way back. 

Tanya Ghai started the rally with a three-pointer to make the score 55-41 with 5:21 left. After Caltech answered with a basket to push the lead to 16, Syona Mandyam knocked down a three with 3:41 to go to cut the deficit to 57-45. Just 36 seconds later, Ghai hit another three-pointer off a Mandyam pass to get the lead down to single digits. 

Kayla Ishibashi converted a layup which was answered by Caltech to make the score 59-50 heading into the final two minutes. Georgeanna Dempsey made two foul shots, and a Mandyam steal led to a Ghai three-point play with 1:27 left to cut the lead to 59-55. 

Caltech broke the CMS press for a layup, but the Athenas came right back, as Amanda Kerner drove for a layup and was fouled, making it a one-possession game at 61-58 with 1:07 to go. CMS got the ball back with a chance to tie, but a three-pointer missed, and the Beavers made all four foul shots down the stretch to seal it. 

Ghai led the Athenas with 15 points, nine of which came in the final run, while Kerner had 14 and Ishibashi had 12. CMS has come down to the wire in almost every league game this season, with seven of its nine losses in SCIAC play coming in games which were within one possession in the closing minutes.

The tight SCIAC losses have included a pair of two-point losses in the final second to first-place Whittier (one when the Poets made the winning shot with 0.3 seconds left, one when the Athenas missed a winning three at the buzzer). CMS has also come down to the wire in defeats to Caltech, Occidental (60-53 - tied with 1:35 left), Pomona-Pitzer (64-58 - tied with 36 seconds left), Chapman (63-59, with CMS missing a tying three with 14 seconds left), and La Verne (57-55, with CMS missing a tying shot in the closing seconds). 

The Athenas return home on Wednesday night to face Cal Lutheran in a must-win game, before closing out at Chapman on Saturday. Wins in both would give CMS a chance to earn one of the two bids left up for grabs, depending on tiebreakers.