THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - The Cal Lutheran women's basketball team dropped their first Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) game to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 50-38 after a cold shooting performance inside Gilbert Arena on Wednesday night.
The loss snapped a seven game winning streak for the Regals who shot just 26.3 percent from the floor (15-for-57) and a lowly 8.3 percent from behind the arc (1-for-12).
CLU opened the game 0-for-11 from the field and scored their first point on a Natalie Stone free throw at the 13:50 mark in the opening half.
After trailing 7-1 with 12:47 remaining, Taylor Messick scored the first field goal for the Regals after rebounding her own miss and following it back up and in. A few minutes later, Messick added another basket to give CLU a 9-7 lead in the low scoring affair.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps was cold from the field as well, starting the game just 1-for-11 and committed 10 first half turnovers which allowed the Regals to keep it close. Despite the poor shooting performance, the Violet and Gold trailed by only four points at halftime down 21-17.
In the second half, the Regals continued to struggle from the field and the Athenas started out hot making three out of their first four shots to jump out to a 27-17 lead.
CLU had their dry spell last the first five minutes of the half before Chelsea Jacoby converted two free throws to make it 27-19. With 10:30 left in the game, the Regals had yet to score a field goal before Jacoby got in the paint for a layup.
Down 39-26 with 6:59 left in the game, Jessica Salottolo drained a three-pointer for her first points of the game and brought momentum back to CLU momentarily.
The Regals forced two straight turnovers from the Athenas and Messick scored to bring CLU within eight points, 39-31 with 6:17 left. That was, however, the closest the Regals would get after trading baskets with CMS down the stretch.
Messick led the way for the Regals with 12 points and had six rebounds, including five offensive boards. Jacoby was the only other Regal in double-figures with 10 points and she added three steals and three blocks in the game.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (14-3, 8-0 SCIAC) was led by Kimberly Scamman who pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds and added 10 points for the double-double, while Claire Donnely was a force in the post adding 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Cal Lutheran (10-5, 5-1 SCIAC) will look to get back in the win column on Monday, Jan. 26 when they travel to take on Chapman (6-7, 4-1 SCIAC) at 7:30 p.m.
Box Score: CMS 50, CLU 38
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