Box Score WHITTIER, Calif. - For the second time this season, the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's basketball team took SCIAC-leading Whittier down to the final shot before falling by two points, as it dropped a 49-47 decision at Whittier on Saturday. 

Whittier moves to 18-2 on the year and 12-0 in the SCIAC, and have come within a hair of losing both of its meetings with CMS, which falls to 7-13 overall and 3-8 in the SCIAC. 

The first meeting on Dec. 7 saw the Athenas leading by four with less than 10 seconds left, but Whittier was able to hit a three, get a steal, and then convert the winning three-point play with 0.3 seconds left in a 48-46 win. 

This time around, CMS almost flipped the script, as Amanda Kerner hit a three-pointer with 35 seconds left to cut the Whittier lead from five to two, and the Athenas were then able to force a Poet turnover. With the clock winding down, CMS tried a three-pointer for the win, but it didn't fall and Whittier was able to steal the defensive rebound away to seal the two-point win. 

Kerner hit a three-pointer and Renee Chong hit two foul shots to give CMS a 33-32 lead going into the fourth. Whittier was able to surge ahead by six, but Tanya Ghai hit a big three to cut it to two, and Georgeanna Dempsey made two key foul shots to make the score 47-44 and give CMS a chance down the stretch. 

The game was a defensive battle, and CMS ended with no players in double figures in scoring, as Kerner and Katie Resendiz led with nine points apiece. Rhe Nae Leach led all players with 22 points for Whittier. 

CMS will be back in action when it travels to Occidental on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. contest.