Contact:             Doug Aiken
                           (714) 997-6900

Release Date:   January 8, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 

Upcoming Events Calendar
 
Date
Day
Team
Opponent/Event
Site
Time (Pacific)
1/10 Sat. Women's Basketball Cal Lutheran Home 3:00 pm
Men's Basketball Redlands Redlands 7:30 pm
1/15 Thu. Men's Basketball La Sierra Home 7:30 pm

Last Week’s Results:

Men’s Basketball
 
Date Opponent Result Record
12/21 Luther (IA) L, 56-62 5-5
12/30 @ Chaminade (HI) L, 56-74 5-6
1/3 @ BYU-Hawaii L, 58-67 5-7

Luther 62, Chapman 56 – Chapman rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit and took a brief lead midway through the second half, however, visiting Luther held the Panthers to just two field goals in the final five minutes of play to earn a 62-56 victory. Chapman, which entered the game shooting 53.2 percent from the field as a team, managed just 32.7 percent shooting in the game, but still kept the game close over the final ten minutes of the game. The Panthers took their only lead of the half with eight minutes left on the clock, ending a 21-10 run. Over the next seven minutes, neither team led by more than four points until Luther’s Jake Lappe hit a three-pointer with 1:05 to go to put the Norse up by five. Chapman cut the lead to one on a Chad Bigler (Santa Ana/Foothill High) three-pointer with 29 seconds remaining, but the Norse made five more free throws when the Panthers were forced to foul. Freshman guard Patrick Carney (Lake Forest/El Toro High) led Chapman with 13 points in the loss.

Chaminade 74, Chapman 56 – A glaring difference in rebounding statistics might explain why Chapman, which kept pace with Chaminade in just about every other box score stat, fell by 18 points to the Division II opponent. Both teams shot 52 percent from the field and committed an equal amount of turnovers, but the Panthers were out-rebounded 31-22 by Chaminade on its home floor. Four Panthers scored in double-digits, led by Patrick Carney’s 13 points. Senior forward Dwight Blair (Compton/Dominguez High) scored ten points and recorded three blocked shots.

BYU-Hawaii 67, Chapman 58 – Playing without their scoring average leader Chad Bigler, who sprained a hip in the Panthers’ loss to Chaminade four days earlier, the Panthers gave the Division II Seasiders a run for their money in the final game of Chapman’s Hawaii road trip. Junior guard Landon Lewis (Brea/Brea Olinda High) got some open looks for the first time in a long time and dropped 18 points on BYU, including five three-pointers. And sophomore guard Zach Wheatley (Fountain Valley/Fountain Valley High) was 8-for-12 from the field for 18 points, as well. The Panthers trailed by just two at the half, 32-30, before BYU opened it up for a nine-point victory in the end. Sophomore point guard Chad Eichten (Canyon Country/Canyon High) registered six assists in the win.
 

Women’s Basketball
 
Date Opponent Result Record
12/20 Luther (IA) W, 68-47 9-2
12/31 Anderson (IN) L, 60-62 9-3
1/6 @ Redlands W, 60-49 10-3

Chapman 68, Luther 47 – The Chapman women won their seventh straight home game and improved to 5-0 at Hutton Center this season with a 21-point win over visiting Luther, 68-47. The Panthers’ defense held its opponent to under 50 points for the third time this season in the win. Senior guard Mel Bongiorno (Stowe, VT/Rice Memorial High) led Chapman offensively and defensively with 29 points and tied a career-high with six steals. Bongiorno, who made 12-of-21 field goal attempts, is shooting 51.4 percent from the field through 11 games and leads the team with a scoring average of 24.9 points per game. Senior forward Caroline Jensen (San Diego/University High) also reached double-digits in scoring with 13 points and a blocked shot. Junior point guard Gayle Sonoda (Brea/Rosary High) scored five points and recorded five assists.

Anderson 62, Chapman 60 – In a game that featured 15 lead changes, including 10 in the second half, visiting Anderson defeated Chapman, 62-60, as time expired while both teams wrestled after a loose ball under the Chapman basket. The loss was the Panthers first at Hutton Center this season, dropping them to 5-1 at home. Chapman led by as many as eight early in the first half, paced by Caroline Jensen who scored 18 of her team-high 24 points before the break. Jensen finished with her fifth double-double of the season with 14 rebounds, as well. But the Ravens rallied to take a two-point halftime lead, 26-24. Trailing by four points, senior guard Sidney Giang (Rosemead/Mark Keppel High) scored a basket with two seconds remaining in the game and Chapman forced a loose ball on the ensuing inbound, but the Panthers never got another shot off before time expired.

Chapman 60, Redlands 49 – Despite shooting a below-average 41.8 percentage from the field, the Panthers held the Bulldogs to 35 percent shooting and just 19 first-half points, en route to holding their opponent to under 50 points for the second time in three games. In a rematch of a game that the Panthers won in overtime in November, Chapman earned the season sweep over Redlands with an 11-point win. Mel Bongiorno and Caroline Jensen each scored 17 points to lead all scorers. Gayle Sonoda scored a season-high 12 points and dished off six assists in the win.