The University of Redlands women's basketball team took to the road on Tuesday night to square off against the Athenas of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) showdown. After a back-and-forth start to the contest, the Bulldogs struggled to sustain their offensive rhythm en route to a 47-66 loss.
After sophomore forward Reyna Ta'amu (Lakewood, CA) put Redlands on the board in its first possession of the game, CMS answered with a 6-0 run while capitalizing on a pair of Bulldog turnovers.
But junior guard Jade Cheldelin (Portland, OR) responded with a lay-up, before sophomore Courtney Chen (La Canada, CA) took advantage of opportunity by converting two free-throws to even the tally at six apiece.
The teams traded baskets to knot the score again at 11-all with 2:29 remaining in the first quarter. Ta'amu knocked down another jumper, before feeding the ball to sophomore guard Brooke Hulett (Poway, CA) for the triple.
However, CMS answered with an 8-1 run to close out the first frame with an eight-point lead.
During the second stanza, the Athenas uncorked back-to-back three-pointers to hold a 28-14 cushion with 6:55 on the clock.
But the Bulldogs continued to battle, as Cheldelin and Ta'amu teamed up for a quick six-point outburst to force a CMS timeout at the four-minute mark.
Junior guard Yoemma Esparza's (Shafter, CA) successful free-throw cut the deficit to seven, but that was as close as Redlands would get. As the Bulldogs battled the turnover bug, the Athenas continued to make their shots, leading to the 19-point loss for the Maroon and Gray.
A late spurt in the final two minutes of the contest revealed the Bulldogs' relentlessness, with junior guard Selena Iriarte (Wilmington, CA) hitting a three-pointer and junior forward Sydney Bennett (Agoura Hills, CA) converting all four of her free-throws.
Ta'amu and Cheldelin led the Maroon and Gray in scoring with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Defensively, sophomore guard Angela Silver (Scotts Valley, CA) pulled in a team-high seven rebounds, while Ta'amu nabbed three steals.
Overall, the Bulldogs out-rebounded the Athenas by a slight 34-to-30 margin.
CMS (12-4, 7-0 SCIAC) fired off a shooting percentage of 50%, as compared to Redlands' 34.8% showing.
Redlands (6-9, 3-3 SCIAC) continues on the road on Saturday, January 23, when it faces off against the Poets of Whittier College at 2 p.m.