The University of Redlands women's basketball team stunned the first-place Regals of Cal Lutheran University on Thursday night, prevailing by a score of 72-63 in Thousand Oaks. With solid shooting, the Bulldogs turned a two-point halftime lead into a nine-point win during the important Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) showdown. In addition, this marks the Maroon and Gray's second triumph over the Regals this season.
Led by the offensive firepower of sophomore guard Claire Stach (Portland, OR) the Bulldogs jumped out to a 12-4 lead less than five minutes into the game. She came out on fire, scoring eight of the team's first dozen points.
However, the Regals eventually tied it up at 15-all after capping off their offensive spurt with a three-pointer by Starla Wright.
The momentum stayed with Cal Lutheran, as the Regals built their biggest lead of the game at 23-18 with 7:35 to go in the opening stanza.
But Redlands rallied right back, with senior guard Ashley Sevilla (San Diego, CA) and junior guard Marika Staton (El Centro, CA) each knocking down shots from downtown to propel the Bulldogs to an even score at 25.
The back-and-forth battle continued, resulting in a slight halftime edge for the Maroon and Gray at 35-33.
Cal Lutheran's Channing Fleishmann kicked off the second frame with a three-pointer, lifting her team to a momentary one-point lead.
However, the Bulldogs' deficit was short-lived as they answered with a 5-0 run to push past the opponents for the last time.
Redlands stayed in front by single digits through most of the half, until Sevilla nailed a three-pointer with 5:26 to go for her team's biggest advantage of the night at 65-54.
Although the Regals cut the deficit to six with 13 seconds left on the clock, senior guard Allison Wong's (Redding, CA) free-throw and junior forward Brittany Oster's (Agoura Hills, CA) huge offensive rebound allowed the Bulldogs to put the game out of reach.
As a team, Redlands shot 45.3% from the field, compared to Cal Lutheran's 34.9% effort. In addition, the Bulldogs were more efficient from downtown, going 6-for-15, while the Regals were 7-for-19. Redlands also took advantage of more free-throw opportunities on an 18-for-25 performance.
Stach led the Maroon and Gray with her 22-point showing, which came off of 8-for-11 shooting. Sevilla added 15 points while converting four three-pointers and Staton chipped in 12 points off the bench. Junior guard Colleen Goeser (San Carlos, CA) dished out four of the team's 10 assists on the night.
Oster pulled in a game-high 13 boards, helping the Bulldogs to win the rebounding battle with a 41-to-36 margin.
Wright scored 20 points and nabbed 12 rebounds for the Regals (20-4, 12-3 SCIAC).
Redlands (18-6, 11-4 SCIAC) heads to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on Saturday for a 5 p.m. bout with the Athenas. After Thursday's results, the Bulldogs currently sit in third place but just one win away from tying for second with Chapman University, which already has completed its regular-season schedule.