ORANGE, Calif. - The Cal Lutheran women's basketball team lost a thriller against Chapman 79-77 inside the Hutton Sports Center on Monday night.
Less than a week after shooting a frigid 26.3 percent from the field in a loss to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, the Regals caught fire and had their best shooting performance of the season, shooting 56.6 percent after going 30-for-53 in the game.
Chapman jumped out to an 8-0 lead to start the contest but the Violet and Gold battled right back and kept it close the whole game. CLU trailed the entire first half but answered nearly every Panther basket and trailed just 38-34 at the break.
Midway through the second half the game started to slip away from the Regals as the Panthers took a 64-56 lead after a three-pointer from Andrea Villanueva with 9:26 left.
CLU responded by putting together a 13-0 run which included a Sofia Cruz jump shot to take the first lead of the game, 65-64 with 7:43 to go. During the run, Natalie Stone made a sensational play falling out of bounds and somehow finding Taylor Messick under the basket for an easy two points.
With just 2:12 on the clock, Stone gave the Regals a 77-76 lead, however a late foul from CLU allowed Chapman to tie the game at 77.
With 14 seconds remaining, the Regals committed a costly turnover trying to inbound the ball. Chapman took full advantage of the CLU miscue and Villanueva drove baseline and flipped a shot up and in with six seconds left to give the Panthers the victory.
Jessica Salottolo led the Regals with 19 points on 9-of-13 shooting and Chelsea Jacoby added 14 points and a game-high seven rebounds. Messick reached double-figures with 10 points and Stone dished out seven assists.
Chapman (8-8, 6-2 SCIAC) was led by Villanueva who poured in a season-high 31 points and went a perfect 3-for-3 from behind the arc.
Cal Lutheran (10-6, 5-2 SCIAC) is back in action on Wednesday, Jan. 28 on the road against Whittier at 7:30 p.m.
Box Score: CU 79, CLU 77
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