The University of Redlands women's basketball team headed to Orange for a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) match-up with the second-place Panthers of Chapman University on Saturday afternoon. With neither team shooting particularly well, the Bulldogs fell short in a 38-45 defensive battle to the scrappy Panthers.
After an unproductive first quarter for both teams, the Bulldogs broke a 16-all tie with four quick points to take a small advantage into the locker room at halftime. Sophomore guard Angela Silver (Scotts Valley, CA) hit a pair of free-throws, before senior guard Ashton Beth (Windsor, CA) nabbed the defensive board on the ensuing Panther possession. Coming back the other way, senior forward Brinsley Farry (Ventura, CA) knocked down a jumper with five seconds left on the second-quarter clock.
A back-and-forth battle ensued in the third stanza, with Chapman nabbing a slight 29-28 lead with 10 minutes remaining in the game. During the early part of the fourth quarter, the score remained within three points until the Panthers put together a small run to make it a two-possession game with 3:49 to go.
Junior guard Yoemma Esparza (Shafter, CA) and sophomore forward Reyna Ta'amu (Lakewood, CA) kept scoring for the Bulldogs, accounting for all of their final seven points.
Forced to foul, the Bulldogs sent the home team to the line, where it was successful at closing out the contest and handing Redlands the loss.
Overall, the Maroon and Gray converted one more free-throw and pulled in seven more rebounds than the home team. However, Chapman made five more overall buckets to provide enough of a difference.
As a result of the stifling Bulldog defense, none of the Chapman players reached double-digit scoring.
Silver led all competitors with 14 points, which came off of 5-for-9 shooting. She also grabbed five rebounds.
Ta'amu hauled in a game-high 10 boards, including eight on the offensive end.
With the loss, Redlands (9-13, 6-7 SCIAC) remains in fourth place in the top-heavy conference standings. The Bulldogs welcome the Whittier College Poets to Currier Gym on Tuesday, February 16, for a 7:30 p.m. showdown.