In a hard-fought contest on Feb. 26, second seeded Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women’s basketball team claimed a 59-54 victory over SCIAC and Sixth Street rival Pomona-Pitzer.
Both teams came into the playoffs with high expectations, as second-seed CMS (19-7) sought to make a deep push and avenge its two regular-season losses. For third-seeded P-P (16-10), the game was a chance to once again vanquish a Sixth Street rival hungry for revenge.
The first quarter of the game was a back-and-forth affair, with the Sagehens and Athenas trading baskets to open the action. Tanya Ghai HM ’27 and Haylie Wang CM ’28 led the way for the Athenas, while Katie Resendiz CM ’26 anchored with her rebounding and a few basket contributions.
For the Sagehens, Jadyn Lee PO ’27 got off to a hot start, ending the quarter with eight of P-P’s 17 points. Sofia Robel PZ ’29 and Emily Lee PZ ’26 also chipped in to give the Sagehens a two-point lead entering the second quarter.
The second opened with a barrage by the Hens, as Jadyn Lee PO ’27 and Abby Homan PO ’27 led the team in a 16-0 scoring run to begin the quarter. Caleigh Edwards CG ’26 reoriented her team with a layup to start an Athena’s 7-0 run, but P-P still concluded the half up 34-24.
Reflecting on her team’s first-half performance, Edwards was unfazed by P-P’s sizable halftime advantage.
“The third quarter is super important, and being down isn’t a new position for us,” she said. “We’ve been at that disadvantage many times, and there are 20 minutes left. Let’s go out there and let’s do what we ought to do.”
Accordingly, the Athenas responded with a monstrous quarter of their own. Led by Ghai and Edwards, CMS charged back and eventually retook the lead late in the third. For the Sagehens, Jadyn Lee and Sara Chicco PO ’28 scored the Sagehens’ only six points of the quarter as the Athenas entered the 4th leading by two.
Homan and her teammates were well aware of the challenge that lay in the final quarter, as well as the stakes at hand.
“We went into that game knowing that it was going to be a tough game,” Homan said. “It’s always a battle to the end of close games, but this was a rivalry game too, and [both teams] were giving everything until the end.”
The fourth quarter proved a heart-pounding watch for fans of both teams. Despite CMS holding the lead for most of the quarter, P-P kept it close, led by the heroics of Jadyn Lee, with Robel and Emily Lee chipping in.
However, CMS never trailed again, as an all-around team effort capped by two free throws by Edwards sealed the victory for the Athenas. Edwards ended the game with 18 points — one of four Athenas in double figures — while Jadyn Lee’s 23 points led all scorers.
Edwards felt the win was both cathartic and reassuring, given the challenges that lay ahead in the SCIAC final and in the NCAA tournament. This year marks CMS’s return to the tournament for the first time since their second-round loss in the 2016-17 season.
“We’re playing our best basketball right now,” Edwards said.“That’s what you want to be doing, and need to be doing at this point of the season. I love this team so much, and I’m ready to see what we can do.”
For Jadyn Lee, the close loss is a testament to the ebbs and flows of competition; though the season didn’t end on a high note, this defeat only strengthened the Sagehens’ resolve to come back stronger.
“[SCIAC teams] all share a passion for the game and we respect them for that,” Jadyn Lee said. “This loss was a learning moment for us, and it will also 100 percent motivate us for next year. We won’t let it get us too down, and we’ll be ready to get on the grind and keep working next fall.”
Despite the Sagehens’ season coming to a close with the SCIAC receiving just one bid to the NCAA tournament, Coach Alaina Woo PO ’17 was named the SCIAC Coach of the Year, cementing her and the program’s place near the top of the SCIAC for years to come.
Following their rivalry victory in the semifinals, the Athenas advanced to the SCIAC final, where they defeated Cal Lutheran on Feb. 28. The win marked the first SCIAC tournament title since 2017, the final win of CMS’s historic four-peat from 2013 to 2017.
With this win under their belt, CMS will travel to Abilene, Texas, to take on the Whitman College Blues in the first round of the NCAA tournament on March 6.
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