Women’s Basketball Downed by Chapman at Redlands Tip-Off Classic, 79-66

REDLANDS, Calif.- The Eastern Nazarene College women's basketball team dropped a 79-66 decision to Chapman in the first game of the University of Redlands Tip-Off Classic Friday.

The Lions move to 0-3 on the year with the result while the Panthers improve to 1-0 overall.

Jordan Grays (Elk Grove, Calif.) led Eastern Nazarene with 14 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Mhiah Vickers (Westlake Village, Calif.) posted nine points, three blocks and a pair of assists. Kristina Kaczmarek (Chatsworth, Calif.) and Michelle Herrera (Santa Barbara, Calif.) finished with eight points each.

Chapman opened the game with eight consecutive points to grab an 8-0 lead with 17:35 left to play.

The Lions pulled to within two as Lauren Hevy (North Brookfield, Mass.) converted a pair of shots from the charity stripe.

After the Panthers' Courtney Krysl drained a jumper, Herrera responded with a trey to cut the deficit to one, 16-15, with 13:22 remaining in the half.

Eastern Nazarene claimed a three-point edge with 7:52 after Grays nailed a triple and Kaczmarek banked in a lay-up, 30-27.

Chapman answered with a 10-1 run to capture a 37-31 advantage with 5:16 showing on the clock.

The Lions leveled the score at 40-40 with three minutes to go in the first half as Katy Teare (Frazier Park, Calif.) made a pair of free throws.

Eastern Nazarene headed into the halftime break trailing by five points, 46-41, after the Panthers tallied the final six points of the opening stanza.

Grays and Vickers paced the Lions with seven points each while Herrera chipped in with six off the bench.

Chapman pushed its lead to 10 points with 11:07 left to play on a jumper by Jaime Hum-Nishikado.

The Panthers kept Eastern Nazarene at bay in the final 10 minutes of the game to hold on for their first win of the season.

The Lions shot 51.2% from the field in the contest, including 40% from behind the arc. The Panthers finished with a  field-goal percentage of 48.4% while connecting on 25% of their three-point attempts.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene will take on the host Bulldogs in the second game of the University of Redlands Tip-Off Classic November 22.