The University of Redlands women's basketball battled it out with the Chapman University Panthers in Tuesday's Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) showdown in Currier Gym. Despite their hot start to the contest, the Bulldogs struggled to maintain their offensive rhythm amidst the physical, foul-heavy match-up and fell by a score of 51-59.
Redlands came out on fire by knocking down 53.3% of its shots in the first quarter to storm out to an early 19-12 lead. Junior guard Jade Cheldelin (Portland, OR) led the balanced attack with six points during this stretch.
The Bulldogs stretched their advantage to 11 points early in the second stanza, with senior guard Ashton Beth (Windsor, CA) and junior guard Yoemma Esparza (Shafter, CA) providing key lay-ups.
However, the Panthers answered with a 7-0 run to close in on the deficit with 5:28 remaining in the frame.
After the teams traded points at the charity stripe, Chapman evened the tally at 27 apiece with a 5-2 run and then quickly took the lead for the first time in the game with a made free-throw.
Another scoring spurt extended the Panthers' lead to five points at the end of the second quarter.
Chapman made it a double-digit advantage less than five minutes into the third stanza, but the Bulldogs refused to go away and worked to cut the deficit to two by the start of the fourth. Cheldelin initiated the comeback with five-straight points, before sophomore guard Angela Silver (Scotts Valley, CA) converted three-consecutive free-throws. After a long jumper by senior forward Brinsley Farry (Ventura, CA), Silver and Beth provided integral rebounds and worked their way to the stripe for critical points. Finally, the late-quarter rally was capped off by sophomore forward Allison Siksnus' (Placentia, CA) spot-on three-pointer to make it 44-46.
Despite being in foul trouble sophomore forward Reyna Ta'amu (Lakewood, CA) drove the lane for a game-tying basket at the start of the fourth frame.
Unfortunately for the home team, the Panthers quickly answered with another scoring spurt to keep Redlands at bay for the 59-51 decision.
Overall, neither team shot particularly well, as each knocked down about 31% of its attempts.
Both teams made it to the charity stripe for 29 chances, but Chapman converted seven more opportunities to provide much of the difference in the outcome.
Cheldelin led all players with 17 points. Silver was one point away from a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds.
Redlands (7-10, 4-4 SCIAC) heads to Thousand Oaks on Saturday, January 30, for an important conference game against the Regals of Cal Lutheran University at 4 p.m.
