March 1, 2007

AMELIA PEREZ
Women's Basketball

Defense can tend to go unnoticed in basketball, especially in a 109-98 game. But it was Amelia's offensive AND defensive efforts that helped the Panthers overcome an 18-point second half deficit to defeat La Verne in overtime of their NCAA first round playoff game on Wednesday night. Perez earned her third double-double of the season with a 19-point, 11-rebound and five-steal performance in the Chapman victory. Her 19 points was also a career-high. Perez, Chapman's sixth-man all season, has quietly averaged 5.0 rebounds per game and ranks second on the team in that category. The Panthers travel to Howard Payne (Tex.) on Saturday for the second round of the NCAA tournament.