Chapman Women Rally, but Fall Short

Despite a late flurry of three-pointers, Chapman’s rally fell short and the Panthers lost to Pomona-Pitzer, 75-65, in a nonconference women’s basketball game Saturday at the Hutton Center.

Trailing by 15 with just under five minutes remaining, Chapman nearly got back into contention by making five of six three-point shots down the stretch, some from extremely long range.

“We were surprised, when they started taking shots from 40 feet out,” Pomona-Pitzer guard Sakari Morrison said.

That’s more than a slight exaggeration, but Flo Luppani made two three-pointers, one from at least 25 feet, and Monique Sweet made three, the final one pulling the Panthers to six points back, 69-63, with 53 seconds remaining.

But Pomona-Pitzer kept making its free throws, the Sagehens hit nine of 12 in the last two minutes, and Chapman only managed a layup by Sweet, who finished with 25 points.

The victory was a key one for Pomona-Pitzer (13-5), which began the week ranked ninth in the NCAA West Region poll. Chapman (10-8) was No. 7. Eight teams from the region make the NCAA playoffs.

“Fortunately, we have some more games against ranked opponents,” Chapman Coach Mary Hegarty said. “But we have to take care of these kinds of teams.”

Chapman had problems from the beginning, falling behind, 9-2, and, 33-21, in the first half. The taller Sagehens had 10 offensive rebounds in the first half and led by nine at the break. Morrison scored 15 of her game-high 28 points in the first half.

Chapman cut the deficit to four with 11 minutes 26 seconds left to play on a driving layup by Luppani (14 points), but Pomona quickly built its lead to nine points.

The Sagehens made 21 of 33 free throws; Chapman made one of five.