CLAREMONT, Calif. - Tournament Most Outstanding Player Valerie Wraith and Jordan LaCour each had three goals, and Grace Clark added a goal and four assists as the second-seeded Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's water polo team defeated top-seeded Pomona-Pitzer 14-10 to win the SCIAC Tournament Championship on Saturday at Haldeman Pool. 

With the win, CMS moves to 16-11 on the year and wins its fourth SCIAC Championship, and first in 20 years, since the 2006 team won the title. The Athenas also earn the right to host the USA Water Polo Division III Championships next weekend at Axelrood Pool, with the semifinals taking place on Saturday and the finals on Sunday. Both CMS and Pomona-Pitzer will represent the SCIAC at the event, with the potential for a rematch for the national title next week if both win their semifinals. 

CMS defeated Pomona-Pitzer for the first time since 2011 when it won a matchup at the UC San Diego Triton Invitational 10-5 back in February, but the Sagehens won both SCIAC meetings in the regular season, including a 10-5 win at Axelrood last Wednesday that secured the top seed and the right to host today's final.

Pomona-Pitzer began the game with eyes on defending its home pool, opening up with leads of 2-0 and 3-1. Tatum Dwyer scored two of the first three CMS goals to get the Athenas even at 3-3 at the end of the first, and Clark opened the second quarter with a goal to put CMS in front for the first time. 

Pomona-Pitzer tied it up 4-4, but CMS was able to use a 4-0 run over the final two minutes of the first half and the first two minutes of the second to take control. Sydney Kroonen scored with 1:41 left in the half to put the Athenas ahead to stay, and Caitlin Muñoz scored with 32 seconds left in the half to give CMS a 6-4 lead at intermission. 

Wraith then opened the second half with two goals in a row, at the 7:04 mark and the 6:09 mark, to give CMS an 8-4 advantage. LaCour then came up big down the stretch with three timely goals, putting the Athenas back in front 9-5, stopping a 2-0 Pomona-Pitzer run to make the score 10-7, and after Isabel Del Villar made it 11-7, LaCour stopped another 2-0 run to put CMS in front 12-9. 

Wraith scored with 1:10 left to help put it away, and Grace Rich answered a Pomona-Pitzer score with an empty-netter for the final tally of the game. 

Natalie Stearns had six saves to get the win in the cage for CMS, while Wraith and Tatum Dwyer each had two steals, and Muñoz drew five exclusions. 

Matchups and game times for the USA Water Polo Division III Championship will be announced on Monday, as the Athenas will try for the program's first national title since the Collegiate III Nationals in 2001.