The University of Redlands women’s basketball team handed Occidental College its first loss in 13 outings and nabbed a share of the 2010 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championship with tonight’s 66-54 victory over the Tigers. The Bulldogs extended a three-point halftime lead to capture the impressive win and remain undefeated (10-0) this season when playing on the road.

Tied for the eighth time in the game, Redlands gained a slight 27-24 advantage at the break when senior guard Ali Bueno (San Jose, CA) converted all three of her chances at the charity stripe with just over a minute to play.

During the second half, the Bulldogs made it a six-point game off of junior Mariah Barbetti-Cort’s (Ventura, CA) lay-up and foul shot with 13:19 remaining.

The Tigers rallied back to take a one-point lead midway through the period, but this inspired a 10-0 run to put Redlands back in the driver’s seat. During this span, Barbetti-Cort chipped in seven of her 15 second-half points.

Although Occidental cut it to four with 4:26 left in the game, the Bulldogs hit their free throws in the final minute, eventually making it a 12-point game at the buzzer.

In addition to scoring 15 points, Barbetti-Cort contributed a team-high 13 rebounds to go along with four steals.

Sophomore forward Courtney Carroll (Ranch Palos Verdes, CA) posted 17 points and six rebounds, while freshman guard Allison Wong (Redding, CA) came off the bench to score 16 points, which included a 9-for-10 performance at the line.

Overall, neither team shot particularly well, but the Bulldogs knocked down five three-pointers compared to Occidental’s single basket from beyond the arc. Redlands also converted 76.7% of its free throws, while the Tigers shot 61.9% from the line.

The Bulldogs (20-5, 12-2 SCIAC) win their third SCIAC women’s basketball title and first since 2004. With tonight’s victory, the team also reestablishes the program record for wins in a season, following last year’s 19-7 showing.

Despite tying Occidental in the conference standings, the Bulldogs take the No. 2 seed at the SCIAC Postseason Tournament due to the head-to-head tiebreaker. They look forward to hosting No. 3 Cal Lutheran University (19-6, 11-3) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Currier Gym. Redlands recently defeated the Regals on the road by a score of 69-40.