The University of Redlands women's basketball team hit the road for Saturday night's Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) game against the Poets of Whittier College. After breaking an early tie, the Bulldogs cruised to a 61-45 win, with senior guard Caitlyn Dixon (Seattle, WA) lighting up the scoreboard with a career-high 24 points that included five buckets from downtown.
Dixon converted the Bulldogs' first basket of the night when senior forward Angela Silver (Scotts Valley, CA) found her on the perimeter for the open trey-ball.
The teams went on to trade scores to even the tally at nine apiece with 4:52 left in the first quarter. Silver tossed in a lay-up and a free-throw before dishing out an assist on Dixon's second three-pointer of the game to make it 15-11 at the 3:36-mark. On the Bulldogs' next possession, first-year guard Alyssa Lee (Monterey Park, CA) fed Dixon for another bucket from downtown to quickly put Redlands up by a score of 18-11.
By the end of the first quarter, the Maroon and Gray held a 20-16 advantage.
Although Whittier made a solid push in the second stanza, the Bulldogs stayed in front with excellent free-throw shooting by Dixon, senior forward Allison Siksnus (Placentia, CA), Silver, and sophomore guard Cassandra Lacey (Victorville, CA).
The Bulldogs worked to turn a 29-27 halftime advantage into a 48-32 lead with stellar shooting and quality defense. Lacey set the tone early in the third quarter, as senior forward Reyna Ta'amu (Lakewood, CA) found her for an open jumper on the team's opening possession. Siksnus forced a Poet turnover and quickly converted on the offensive end with a jumper. At the midway point of the stanza, Silver sent the ball over to Dixon for yet another three-pointer to make it 38-30. After Ta'amu and Lacey combined for the next seven points, Dixon stepped back for a nothing-but-net trey-ball to make it 48-32 with 44 seconds to go in the frame.
During the fourth, the Bulldogs went on cruise control to secure the quality win, with Lacey scoring eight of her 12 points during the final 10 minutes.
Dixon led all players with her career-high 24 points, while Lacey and Ta'amu provided 22 points collectively. Siksnus tossed in six points while grabbing eight rebounds.
Redlands (11-9, 6-5 SCIAC) heads to Chapman University on Wednesday, January 31, for a 7 p.m. showdown with the Panthers.