ORANGE, Calif. — Pomona-Pitzer women's basketball fell short to Chapman 50-45 Saturday night on the road.
Season Impact: The loss puts the Sagehens at 4-4 on the season, including 1-1 in SCIAC play.
Sofia Robel led the Sagehens with 12 points, nine rebounds and four blocks. Abigail Homan grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds. The Sagehens struggled offensively, shooting 12.5% from beyond the arc and 31.7% from the field.
The Sagehens opened the quarter aggressively, highlighted by their defense. Robel got an early block at the rim in the opening minute while Homan and Emily Lee both picked up a steal. Despite several good looks, the Sagehens couldn't convert only scoring five points in the first quarter. Shea Joko got things going and knocked down the first field goal at the five minute mark. She added another finish at 5:52, continuing to be the spark on offense. The Sagehens struggled to take care of the ball with six turnovers in the first quarter. The score heading into the second was 10-5 in favor of Chapman.
In the opening minute of the second quarter, Avery Patricco broke through with a quick layup, but the Sagehens hit a scoring drought shortly after. Pomona-Pitzer went nearly four minutes without a basket until Homan ended the skid, finishing at the rim off a feed from Katie Drais. All of the Sagehens' scoring in the period came inside the paint as they went 0-for-8 from three, heading into halftime trailing 22–17.
Chapman struck first in transition to push the lead to seven at the start of the third quarter. The Sagehens struggled early around the rim until Jadyn Lee jump-started the offense with a fastbreak layup off her own steal. After Chapman extended the lead back to eight, Lee scored again inside, and momentum finally shifted when Sara Chicco caught fire, drilling back-to-back threes to give Pomona-Pitzer its first lead of the night at 29–27. The Panthers briefly tied and then reclaimed the lead from the free-throw line, but the Sagehens responded again, this time with Homan finishing at the rim off a feed from J. Lee to make it 31–29. Both teams traded stops in the final minute, and a Chapman layup in traffic tied the game at 31–31 heading into the fourth.
The Sagehens opened the fourth with defensive pressure as Kayla Malek jumped a passing lane for a steal, but Pomona-Pitzer couldn't capitalize on the early looks. After a few empty possessions on both sides, Robel broke the scoreless stretch with a jumper in the paint, giving the Sagehens a 33–31 lead. Robel then followed with a huge block, and Emily Lee added a composed finish at the rim to push the advantage to four. Chapman responded with back-to-back threes to swing momentum and retake the lead. The Sagehens clawed back with a Malek layup to make it 46–45. But a late turnover and a series of fouls allowed Chapman to extend the margin at the free-throw line. The Sagehens couldn't close the gap, falling to the Panthers 50–45.
Up Next: The Sagehens will take on Illinois Tech at home on Sunday, Dec. 14, at 2:00 p.m. PT.
