With great heart and determination, the University of Redlands women's basketball team strung together solid win streaks to finish the 2017-18 season with a 14-12 overall record and a 9-7 mark in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) action. In addition, the Maroon and Gary punched its ticket to the SCIAC Postseason Tournament for the 11th-consecutive time to cap off another strong season under Head Coach Rich Murphy.
After kicking off the campaign with a non-conference, 74-58 victory over La Sierra University, the Bulldogs went 1-1 against quality opponents at the annual Redlands Tip-Off Classic. Despite being down by as many as 13 points in the tournament opener against McMurry University (TX), the Bulldogs battled back to take the hard-fought, 62-56 triumph. First-year forward Camille Mosley (Riverside, CA) snagged an offensive board and made a jumper to give the Bulldogs their first lead of the night at the 1:46-mark of the second half. Amidst many timeouts and intentional fouls, sophomore guard Cassandra Lacey (Victorville, CA) and senior guard Caitlyn Dixon (Seattle, WA) came up huge at the line for the Bulldogs by combining for five made free-throws in the final 20 seconds to seal the amazing, comeback victory. Lacey ended the night with 15 points, while Dixon added 13. First-year forward Kellis Dack (Vancouver, WA) also impressed with a team-leading 10 rebounds.
Unfortunately, the Bulldogs endured a four-game slump, including two losses in SCIAC play, over the next three weeks.
The Bulldogs jumped back into the win column with three consecutive victories, first in a conference showing against Whittier College and then over non-conference foes Manchester University (IN) and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (AZ).
In the first game of that stretch, Whittier tied things up at 50-apiece with less than five minutes to go. However, the Poets' burst of energy was short-lived, as Lacey hit a nothing-but-net jumper from first-year guard Alexandria Iannone's (Fullerton, CA) dime of a pass for the Redlands lead. From here, the Bulldogs never looked back, as senior forward Reyna Ta'amu (Lakewood, CA) and Lacey sealed the deal at the charity stripe by making the last four free-throws of the game for the 56-50 conference victory.
Ten days later, the team's success continued against Manchester. While utilizing tenacity, depth, and skill, the Bulldogs turned a five-point, halftime lead into a solid 61-43 victory that saw the home team prevail in nearly every statistical category. Ta'amu continued to shine with her 16-point effort, as senior forward Allison Siksnus (Placentia, CA) hauled in 10 rebounds. Furthermore, first-year guard Claire Olmstead (Sherman, TX) tossed in the first bucket of her young Bulldog career.
The three-game win streak continued with a 68-61 decision against Embry-Riddle in a defensive battle. Amidst eight ties and 11 lead changes, the Maroon and Gray held the Eagles to just 16.7% shooting in the final quarter to secure the seven-point victory. Ionnone impressed with 15 points, four rebounds, four steals, and four assists.
The Bulldogs struggled in their next three contests, as they dropped results to Benedictine University at Mesa (AZ), top-ranked Amherst College (MA), and conference-rival Chapman University.
Nonetheless, Redlands stayed persistent and ended up on the right side of close games against Caltech and Pomona-Pitzer Colleges before owning a 19-point margin over the University of La Verne. Against the Beavers, Ta'amu scored her second double-double of the season behind a 21-point, 10-rebound showing. In the game against the Sagehens, Ta'amu and Lacey each scored in double-digits, while Dixon dished out six assists for the second time this season.
On January 10, the Bulldogs traveled to La Verne for an offensively impressive performance in the 81-62 win. While the game remained close through halftime, Redlands sparked its scoring arsenal in the fourth quarter by shooting an awesome 60% to La Verne's 17.6%. In the final minute of the game, Siksnus, senior guard Courtney Chen (La Canada, CA), and senior forward Megan Fortenberry (Riverside, CA) provided quality trips to the charity stripe to give Redlands its largest lead at 19 points en route to the conference victory. In addition, Dack nabbed a career-high 14 rebounds to go along with eight points and four assists. Mosley impressed off the bench with a nine-point, six-rebound performance in only 12 minutes of action. Fortenberry snagged four steals, scored eight points, and pulled in eight rebounds.
After dropping a tough result to Cal Lutheran University, the Bulldogs rebounded with a 64-26 thrashing of the University of St. Katherine in a total-team effort. The Maroon and Gray then welcomed the Tigers of Occidental College to Currier Gym for an important SCIAC showdown. While shooting 54.5% for the game, the Bulldogs built a 23-16 lead after the first quarter and stayed in front through the final whistle. Despite a late push by the visitors, Redlands took care of business at the free-throw line to secure the hard-fought 79-71 victory. Ta'amu supplied 20 points as one of four starters in double figures.
The Bulldogs went 1-2 in the final three games of January, with the 61-45 victory coming at Whittier. Against the Poets, Dixon lit up the scoreboard with a career-high 24 points that included five buckets from downtown.
Redlands opened the final month of the season with a solid 64-56 win over Pomona-Pitzer in a game that celebrated a Bulldog milestone. Amidst an evenly matched contest, Ta'amu did her part by leading the team with 16 points, as she eclipsed the 1,000-point mark to become the ninth player in Redlands history to accomplish this feat.
Four days later, the Bulldogs women's basketball team moved into sole possession of third place in the conference standings with an 89-63 victory over La Verne in Currier Gym on Cancer Awareness Night. In addition, Ta'amu poured in a career-high 27 points just one game after scoring her 1000th point. Overall, Redlands notched its highest point total of the season at 89, which came off an impressive 53.6% shooting effort. Senior forward Angela Silver (Scotts Valley, CA), Lacey, and Dixon each played a pivotal role in orchestrating the offense by dishing out 19 assists collectively.
After defeating the Caltech Beavers, 56-38, on February 10, the Bulldogs hosted the Regals of Cal Lutheran University on Senior Day. Before the start of the game, Redlands celebrated the careers of its seven seniors, including student-assistant coach Nicolee Quraishy (Rancho Santa Fe, CA), Chen, Dixon, Fortenberry, Siksnus, Angela Silver, and Ta'amu. A heated battle ensued that would decide third and fourth place of the SCIAC standings. Amongst an electric crowd, the Bulldogs battled back from a 16-point deficit to send the game into overtime. However, the Maroon and Gray's late-game rally fell short in a 67-74 loss that forced the home team into fourth place. Nonetheless, the Bulldogs headed into the SCIAC Postseason Tournament for the 11th-consecutive time, having qualified each year since its inception.
Right before the tournament, the SCIAC announced that Ta'amu had become a three-time All-SCIAC honoree with her back-to-back First Team nods.
The fourth-seeded Bulldogs made the short trip to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges to take on the top-seeded Athenas in the semifinal of the SCIAC Postseason Tournament. In a game that saw eight ties and 14 lead changes, neither team outscored the other by more than three points in any quarter. Despite hitting three more trey-balls than the Athenas, the Bulldogs missed out on the upset by a tight score of 65-69. Ta'amu remained the steady scorer for the Maroon and Gray, as she knocked down 18 points. Lacey and Dixon backed her by combining for 23 points.
Despite an early exit from the tournament, the Redlands women's basketball team orchestrated another season full of accomplishments and noticeable growth. With continued guidance from Head Coach Rich Murphy, the Bulldogs remain committed to competing at a high level while preparing for an upward move towards the top of the conference.