SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's basketball team led 35-29 midway through the third quarter, but Hardin-Simmons used a 15-0 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to take control and move on to a 59-45 win over the Athenas on Sunday on the second day of the Slug Tip-Off Classic hosted by UC Santa Cruz.
Hardin-Simmons improves to 2-0 with the win, while the Athenas drop to 1-1 after falling in a battle between two NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago. Hardin-Simmons reached the Round of 16 after two tournament wins, and defeated CMS in overtime a year ago during the regular season, while the Athenas made their first appearance since 2017 with a SCIAC Tournament win at Cal Lutheran.
First-year guard
Sofia-Lynn Teresi led CMS with 21 points and seven rebounds in the defeat, shooting 9-14 from the floor.
Haylie Wang, who had 17 points and 15 rebounds yesterday in a win over host UC Santa Cruz, was 4-5 from the floor but had her attempts limited by the Cowgirls' defensive game plan.
CMS led 27-22 at the half after a strong close from Teresi, who had a three-pointer and a lay-up in the final two minutes.
Naima Joseph started the second half with a lay-up to give CMS its largest lead at 29-22.
Teresi then made three CMS baskets in a row to get up to 17 points, putting CMS ahead 35-29 with 6:26 left in the third. Hardin-Simmons then held the Athenas without a point the rest of the quarter, as it went ahead 38-35 heading into the fourth.
The momentum continued for the Cowgirls in the fourth, as Teresi finally broke the drought with a free throw with 7:23 left to cut the lead to 44-36. Dylan Koele knocked down a three-pointer for Hardin-Simmons to stretch the lead to 52-38, before Wang ended a field goal drought with a lay-up at the 4:57 mark. Teresi capped off her 21-point night with a three-pointer to close out the scoring.
CMS will be back in action next weekend when it travels to Emory, where it will face both the host Eagles on Friday and Texas Lutheran on Saturday.
