Chapman Women’s Tournament : Patterson Scores 18 as Panthers Advance

Senior All-American Leone Patterson scored a game-high 18 points, and had 9 rebounds Thursday night, as Chapman College defeated Texas El Paso, 72-55, in the opening round of the Chapman/Doubletree Tournament in the Hutton Sports Center at Orange.

The Panthers (2-0) gained an 8-0 lead as the Miners took one shot in the first three minutes. Chapman led at halftime, 33-28.

Chapman junior forward Valerie Hartsfield made 7 of 12 shot attempts, and finished with 17 points.

Traci Bunch led Texas El Paso with 13 points on 6 of 8 shooting, and Hoover Gants had nine rebounds.

In today’s second round, McNeese State will meet North Dakota in one consolation semifinal at noon and Loyola Marymount will face Texas El Paso in the other consolation semifinal at 2 p.m. In the championship bracket, United States International University will play Air Force in a 6 p.m. semifinal and Chapman will meet the University of San Diego in the other semifinal at 8.

The Chapman men’s team will play UC Davis in a nonconference game at 4 p.m.

In other tournament action:

U.S. International University 79, McNeese State 71--Toya Decree scored 19 points and grabbed 9 rebounds to lead the Gulls past the Cowboys. Sonya Carter added 15 points for USIU, which shot 50% (32-64) from the field. The Cowboys, which shot 27% (23-86), were led by Valerie Butcher’s 18 points and 17 rebounds.

Air Force 66, North Dakota 58--Stacy Goss scored 18 points and Amanda Williams added 15 as the Air Force shot 59% (30-51) from the field. Tina Bergene had 18 points and Dawn Zimney scored 14 for North Dakota.

University of San Diego 65, Loyola Marymount 39--Debbie Theroux led San Diego with 19 points and Kelli Behrens had 13 rebounds as the Toreros advanced to the semifinals. Tracey Anderson led Loyola with 14 points.