Contact:             Doug Aiken
                           (714) 997-6900

Release Date:   January 22, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 

Upcoming Events Calendar
 
Date
Day
Team
Opponent/Event
Site
Time (Pacific)
1/24 Sat. Women's Basketball La Sierra Home 7:00 pm
Men's Basketball Vanguard Costa Mesa 7:30 pm
1/27 Tue. Women's Basketball Azusa Pacific Home 7:00 pm
1/29 Thu. Men's Basketball U.C. Santa Cruz Santa Cruz 7:00 pm

Last Week’s Results:

Men’s Basketball
 
Date Opponent Result Record
1/15 La Sierra W, 81-49 8-7
1/16 @ Life Pacific W, 85-51 9-7

Chapman 81, La Sierra 49 – Chapman, which ranks among the top shooting and offensive teams in Division III, put together another strong offensive outing versus visiting La Sierra. All 12 Panthers who suited up for the game scored at least one point. Sophomore point guard Chad Eichten (Canyon Country/Canyon High) led all scorers and tied a career-high with 14 points and six steals. Sophomore guard Zach Wheatley (Fountain Valley/Fountain Valley High) also reached double-digits in scoring with 10 points and five rebounds. The Panthers, who entered the game fifth in the nation in field goal percentage, shot a sub-par 46.6 percent from the field, but boosted their scoring average with 81 points. Chapman ranks in the top-40 in Division III in scoring offense with an average of 80.9 points per game.

Chapman 85, Life Pacific 51 – The Panthers improved to 9-7 with a second-half surge that saw them score 42 points while limiting the Warriors to just 19. Chapman broke open an otherwise closely contested game after leading by just 11 at halftime. Junior guard Landon Lewis (Brea/Brea Olinda High) led all scorers with 21 points, all 21 coming on seven three-pointers. Lewis ranks among the top three-point shooters in the country with a 49.5 percent success rate from beyond the arc. The win was Chapman’s fourth in a row – their longest winning streak of the season.

NCAA Statistical Leaders
The Panthers finds themselves amidst the top-50 in NCAA Division III in seven different statistical categories (through games of 1/18/04):
 
Scoring Offense Chapman; 81.1 ppg 33rd
Scoring Margin Chapman; 10.6 ppg 40th
Field Goal Pct. Chapman; 51.7% 2nd
Three-Point FG Pct. Chapman; 40.9% 17th
Free Throw Pct. Chapman; 73.3% 41st
Three-Point FG Per Game Landon Lewis; 3.4 21st
Three-Point FG Pct. Landon Lewis; 49.5% 4th

Women’s Basketball
 
Date Opponent Result Record
1/17 @ Pomona-Pitzer W, 61-46 13-3

Chapman 61, Pomona-Pitzer 46 – More tough defense from the Panthers aided another important regional victory, a 15-point road win over Pomona-Pitzer. Chapman dominated the offensive and defensive boards, out-rebounding the Sagehens by 12 and holding their opponent to just a 28.3 percent field goal percentage. Chapman also kept its opponent under 50 points for the fifth time this season and the third time in its past six games. Senior guard Mel Bongiorno (Stowe, VT/Rice Memorial High) led all scorers with 25 points, grabbed seven rebounds and had five assists. Senior forward Caroline Jensen (San Diego/University High) also reached double-digits in scoring with 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Chapman improved to 11-1 versus West Region opponents, an important criterion for playoff selection as an Independent.

NCAA Statistical Leaders
Chapman’s women’s basketball team ranks among the best in Division III in six different statistical categories (through games of 1/18/04):
 
Scoring Offense Chapman; 76.6 ppg 17th
Scoring Margin Chapman; 19.7 ppg 15th
Rebound Margin Chapman; 8.8 rpg t-21st
Field Goal Pct. Chapman; 46.6 t-3rd
Points Per Game Mel Bongiorno; 23.3 ppg 3rd

Women’s Swimming
 
Date Event/Opponent Top Swimmers Results
1/17 @ Cal Baptist/Biola Kati Wise 100 Fly
1st; 1:00.50

The Panthers split the dual meet, defeating Biola by a score of 90-80, but losing to host Cal Baptist, 159-36. Chapman took first in seven of the ten events versus Biola, including Kati Wise’s (Westlake, OH/Westlake High) meet-best time of 1:00.50 in the 100-meter butterfly. Chapman also finished first in the 200-meter medley relay with a time of 1:59.82 – a team made up of Wise, Briana Lyon (Walnut/Walnut High), Jody Martinovich (Costa Mesa/Costa Mesa High) and Laura Kellen (Stockton/St. Mary’s High).