The University of Redlands women's basketball team moves to the top of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) with a 78-54 victory over the Whittier College Poets on Thursday night.
Redlands overcame an early deficit by rattling off 10 straight points to make it 19-9 with 12:22 left in the first stanza. During this stretch, senior forward Brittany Oster (Agoura Hills, CA) poured in seven of her 17 points, while junior guard Kaity Lykins (Simi Valley, CA) added a pair of baskets.
The Bulldogs expanded their lead to 14 points at 31-17, when Oster capped off another spurt of scoring by converting a second-chance opportunity at the 7:34-mark, which forced Whittier to call a timeout.
Through the latter portion of the half, both teams struggled with turnovers and a lack of offensive rhythm, but junior guard Kameran Dage (Walnut Creek, CA) managed to change that for the Maroon and Gray. With 1:12 to go, she knocked down a three-pointer to make it 38-23, before going on to score Redlands' final points of the half with an and-one play on her team's last scoring possession.
Leading 41-25 at the break, the Bulldogs kept the pressure on the Poets in the early part of the second frame, forcing more turnovers while taking advantage of quality looks.
Lykins' back-to-back buckets less than five minutes into the half stretched the Maroon and Gray's lead to 19 points.
With 13:07 left in the game, Dage continued her hot streak from beyond the arc after taking a pass from senior forward Madison Sanders-Curry (San Jose, CA).
Less than a minute later, she connected on another score from downtown, with sophomore forward Brinsley Farry (Ventura, CA) providing the key assist.
Despite facing a 24-point deficit, the Poets refused to go away and managed to chip away to make it a 16-point game with 5:52 to go.
However, the Bulldogs responded with a well-balanced attack down the stretch, as Sanders-Curry, sophomore forward Ashton Beth (Windsor, CA), Oster, and freshman forward Nina Newman (San Mateo, CA) contributed baskets, resulting in the 78-54 victory.
Oster topped all players with 17 points and 13 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the campaign. She corralled four offensive boards, helping the Bulldogs to record 16 on the night. In addition, she dished out four assists.
Dage scored a Redlands career-high 17 points, which included four three-pointers, to go along with four assists. Lykins added 14 points, while Sanders-Curry chipped in nine.
Whittier (1-15, 1-7 SCIAC) gained 14 points from Danielle Hays and 11 from Nicole Ruffino.
Overall, the Bulldogs had 11 different players score at least two points while shooting 50% as a team. The Maroon and Gray also out-rebounded the opponents by a 40-25 margin.
Following Chapman University's loss to Cal Lutheran University and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges' bye tonight, the Bulldogs (14-3, 7-1 SCIAC) now sit alone at the top of the standings. Redlands returns home to Currier Gym for Family Fun Night on Saturday with a 7 p.m. tip-off against CMS in a premiere conference showdown.