Despite a 30-point performance by the Bulldogs' most recent member of the 1000-point club, the University of Redlands women's basketball team dropped a 66-73 decision to Chapman University on Saturday in Orange. With the loss, the Maroon and Gray falls into third place in the top-heavy standings with five regular-season contests remaining.
Senior forward Brittany Oster (Agoura Hills, CA) stepped up with 30 points on the night, including her first three-pointer of her career at Redlands. But it was not enough to carry the Bulldogs due to the team's inefficient shooting night.
With Redlands owning an early 10-9 lead, Chapman answered with a six-point run that came off of jumpers by three different players.
From here, the Bulldogs were forced to play catch-up in an effort to overcome the Panthers' nearly 50% shooting, including a stellar 4-for-6 showing from downtown, during the first half.
Down 25-33 at the start of the second stanza, Redlands rallied to make it a one-possession game less than three minutes into the action. Oster, senior forward Madison Sanders-Curry (San Jose, CA), and senior guard Colleen Goeser (San Carlos, CA) each knocked down timely shots during this spurt.
However, Chapman's Kimi Takaoka spearheaded her team's response, scoring back-to-back jumpers to extend the lead to 39-34 at 15:08.
This give-and-take trend continued over the next 10 minutes, until Oster supplied five of the team's seven points in a 35-second span, resulting in a 52-51 advantage for the Bulldogs.
But the Panthers answered right back with six consecutive points to create a lead that held up through the final whistle.
Although Redlands cut the deficit to two off of an Oster jumper with just over two minutes to play, Chapman took care of business at the charity stripe, converting all nine of its final opportunities.
Despite last-second three-pointers by Oster and sophomore forward Brinsley Farry (Ventura, CA), it was not enough to make up the difference.
The Panthers finished the night with a solid 49.1% effort, as compared to the Bulldogs' showing of 31.9%. Redlands out-rebounded the opponents by a slight 42-38 margin, but dominated the offensive boards with 18, with Chapman only pulling in seven.
Oster recorded her first-ever 30-point performance, with tonight's effort coming off of a 10-for-22 showing. She also nabbed 11 rebounds for her 10th double-double of the season.
In addition, Redlands gained double-digit scoring from Goeser with 14 points and junior guard Kaity Lykins (Simi Valley, CA) with 10.
Also making solid contributions for the Maroon and Gray, Sanders-Curry pulled in 10 rebounds and scored four points.
Chapman's (15-5, 9-2 SCIAC) Takaoka registered a 27-point night, while Sandra Gao added 18 points and Andrea Villanueva chipped in 12.
Redlands (15-5, 8-3 SCIAC) heads to the University of La Verne on Thursday with hopes of avenging an early-season loss to the Leopards. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.