THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Cal Lutheran women's basketball came out on top of a back-and-forth thriller, beating Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 72-69 in the Regals home opener on Wednesday evening.

Sara Mills led the way with 20 points, Kaiya Mack had 15, and Aliya DiMuro posted a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds.

The Regals (3-3) played to a 40-32 lead in a physical first half. The two teams combined for 15 fouls and both teams made the most of their free throw opportunities with the Regals shooting 81.8% (9-11) and the Athenas shooting 73.3% (11-15). Mack put in work in the first two quarters, recording 13 of her points in the first half. 

The Athenas (1-5) went on a 9-0 at the end of the third quarter and went into the fourth up by one, 55-54. They continued to build momentum by starting the fourth quarter with back-to-back threes to push the lead to 7. 

But the Regals would battle back. Karina McMillan drilled a three-pointer with 4:18 left to play to give the Regals the lead back 65-63.

With four seconds left in the game and the Regals up by three, the Athenas made what looked like the game-tying shot to force overtime, but after review, the shot was deemed a two-pointer with the player's foot just in front of the three-point line. 

In the next possession, Mills was intentionally fouled and knocked down two clutch free throws to push the lead back to 3. The Athenas didn't get a shot off before the buzzer sounded and the Regals bench stormed the court to celebrate a great team win. 

With the result, the Regals start 1-0 in conference play and have won three games in a row. They look to continue their win streak on the road against Redlands on Saturday, Dec. 2 at 4 p.m.