The University of Redlands women's basketball team took on host, No. 10 Transylvania University at the Pat Deacon Classic in Lexington, KY on Saturday afternoon. Despite a 21-point fourth quarter, the Bulldogs, unfortunately, fell 57-59.
After the teams traded scores in the first minute of action, junior guard Kellis Dack (Vancouver, WA) made a jumper to go up 4-2 at the 7:00-minute mark. Even though sophomore guard Alyssa Downs (South San Francisco, CA) hit a trey ball a minute later to go up 7-4, the Pioneers went on a 13-0 run to put the Maroon and Gray in a 7-17 hole at the end of the first.
First-year guard Alexis Machain (San Diego, CA) and sophomore forward Hannah Jerrier (Canton, MA) immediately made an impact in the second quarter providing key buckets to claw away at the deficit. With 3:32 left in the period, first-year guard Marisa Urbano-Sedlund (San Diego, CA) hit a jumper and then a three-pointer to pull within two at 23-25. But Transylvania went ahead to enter halftime with a 32-25 lead.
The Pioneers continued to roll through the third quarter, forcing Redlands to play from 10-points down to enter the final period.
The Bulldogs came out of the short break motivated, scoring the first five points of the fourth quarter to make the score 41-46.
The teams battled through the period and at the 2:20-minute mark junior guard Alyssa Lee (Monterey Park, CA) knocked down back-to-back three-pointers to go ahead 54-53. Although Downs made another shot from beyond the arc, the Bulldogs shots were not falling in the final minute, dropping a close 57-59 loss.
Downs led the team with 14 points, while Lee added 10. Dack and Jerrier each pulled in seven boards.
Redlands (3-3) heads to the University of La Verne to open conference play on Wednesday, December 4, at 7 p.m.