LOS ANGELES — Playing one of the best teams in the SCIAC without one of the best players in the conference is no easy task.
The Occidental College women's basketball team found out just how challenging it will be without star guard Michelle Naito-Lo in a close loss to a very good Claremont-Mudd-Scripps team, 52-44 on Saturday at Rush Gymnasium.
Naito-Lo helped lead Oxy to a win at Whittier on Thursday, but the win didn't wash away the sour taste the Tigers left with when she sprained her knee in the final 5 minutes of play.
She is day-to-day.
Without her team-leading 13.2 points per game, the Tigers struggled to put points on the board. Her running mate, fellow senior and First Team All-SCIAC center Elizabeth Messick tried to pick up the slack, but her game-high 16 points, seven rebounds and six blocks weren't enough.
The Tigers fall to 8-6 and 2-4 in SCIAC play. The Athenas improve to 12-2 and 4-1.
"I was proud of the way our team competed tonight," Oxy head coach Anahit Aladzhanyan said. "Obviously we were without Michelle and she can make a big difference in these types of games. (Messick) played well for us inside and I thought our team rallied together for a pretty good performance but we just didn't get the result we wanted."
Kimberly Scamman, the younger sister of four-year Oxy player Stephanie Scamman '13, ran the show from the point guard spot for CMS. The junior scored 14 points, dished out six assists and had seven steals.
Scamman helped CMS jump out to a 25-15 halftime lead by forcing turnovers and then finding open teammates in transition. As a team, the Athenas scored 13 points off of turnovers in the first 20 minutes.
Haley Graham kept the Tigers close with a pair of 3-pointers.
Oxy cut the score to 35-32 with just more than 6 minutes left after Ashton Reid found Elizabeth Messick for an 18-foot jumped from the top of the key and Brittni Walker scored on a drop step in the post using her left hand.
But Scamman countered with an and-one driving layup to her right hand, converting the free throw to extend the lead back to five with 5:49 to go. She followed it with a kick-out to Mara Falahee for a corner 3-pointer and Claire Donnelly hit a paint jumper to extend the Athenas' lead back to 10 points with 3:49 to play.
Oxy cut the lead to less than double digits just two more times on a 3-pointer by Crystal Goodwinwith 3:15 left and a pair of free throws by Kristen Treat with less than 1 minute to go.
Madeline Barnes added 14 points and 12 rebounds for CMS.
The Tigers return to action on Jan. 15, hosting Pomona-Pitzer at Rush Gym at 7:30 p.m.