CLAREMONT, CA. –  The Pomona-Pitzer Women's Basketball team fell late to Chapman 56-54 on Wednesday night at Voelkel Gymnasium.
 
Season Impact: with the loss, the Sagehens fall to 4-18 overall and 1-12 in SCIAC play.
 
The Sagehens were led by Ali Bennett who scored a career-high 12 points in the win. Abigail Homan was the only other Sagehen in double figures with 11 while Charlize Andaya and Jadyn Lee had seven each.
 
A low-scoring affair between the two teams after the Sagehens shot 35.7% from the field and 28.6% from three while Chapman hit on 44.6% from the floor and did not hit a single three-pointer after they went 0-5 from beyond the arc. Chapman controlled the boards outrebounding the Sagehens 35-24 and had 44 points in the paint to the Sagehens' 24. The Sagehens forced the Panthers to turn the ball over 17 times and scored 18 points off of turnovers that aided them in their second-half comeback.
 
Chapman took advantage of a slow start on offense for the Sagehens with Pomona-Pitzer getting three points in the first eight minutes of the first quarter.  The Panthers started with a 12-3 lead at the media timeout and despite the Sagehens' offense picking up a bit late in the first quarter, Chapman took a 20-7 lead after one-quarter of play.  
 
A much better quarter offensively for the Sagehens after Pomona-Pitzer outscored Chapman 17-12 in the second quarter. After the Panthers netted the first basket of the second quarter to take a 22-7 lead, the Sagehens sparked a 13-8 run to get the game back to within 10 points at 30-20. Pomona-Pitzer continued to cut into the lead late in the first half and after two free throws from Bennett, the Sagehens got the deficit under 10 points heading into halftime down 32-24.
 
The Sagehens continued to chip away at the lead and opened the third quarter up on a 10-4 run to bring the game down to within two points at 36-34 with 2:06 left in the third.  The Sagehens got the lead down to within one point at 40-39, but the Panther shit the final shot of the third to take a 42-39 lead into the fourth quarter.
 
The Sagehens wasted no time grabbing their first lead of the game at 45-44 after a Katie Drais three and scored on three-straight possessions to take a 49-44 lead with 5:07 to play. Chapman made a big run down the stretch to reclaim the lead at 54-51 and Jadyn Lee went on to hit a huge three to tie the game at 54-54 with 21 seconds remaining.  Chapman responded to take a 56-54 lead and the Sagehens couldn't answer at the other end with a buzzer-beater as the Panthers spoiled the Sagehens' comeback attempt at home.
 
Up Next: The Sagehens will next host CMS on Saturday, February 10^th at 4:00 p.m.