The University of Redlands women's basketball team competed in its second tournament in as many weekends, taking on top-10 opponents Kean University (NJ) and DePauw University (IN) at the Cal Lutheran Thanksgiving Classic in Thousand Oaks. On Friday, the Bulldogs battled it out with fifth-ranked Kean before finally succumbing to the Cougars in a 68-71 heartbreaking loss. Saturday's game saw an uncharacteristically poor shooting display for Redlands as it faced off against 10th-ranked DePauw and settled for a difficult 38-63 defeat.

Against the Cougars, Redlands shot 45.2% in the first half to garner a four-point lead at the break.

During the first 10 minutes of the second stanza, the Bulldogs knocked down three baskets from beyond the arc, which included two from junior point guard Christina Rios (San Diego, CA), to capture the largest lead of the game at 59-48. A lay-up from junior forward Courtney Carroll (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA) capped off this impressive offensive outburst.

However, Kean stormed right back with an 11-0 run to tie it up for the eighth time.

From here, a back-and-forth battle ensued but the Cougars eventually took over as the Bulldog offense went cold at 30.0%. Freshman Emily Cristaldi poured in 11 of her 16 points during the second half to lead the charge with Kean shooting an impeccable 51.5% in the second half.

For Redlands, Carroll finished with a game-high 20 points to go along with seven rebounds. Rios added 10 points and six rebounds, while freshman forward/guard Brittany Oster (Agoura Hills, CA) came off the bench for 12 points.

Besides Cristaldi, Kean gained double-digit performances from Naimah Clemons, also with 16, and Noel Mathis, who chipped in 11.

On Saturday, Redlands unfortunately failed to rebound from its previous loss and came up short against the Tigers of DePauw.

The Bulldogs trailed by seven at the half and then cut the lead to 27-33 early in the second frame. But the DePauw offense continued to shoot lights-out at nearly 51% for the game, while Redlands mustered an inefficient 31.3% showing.

The Tigers rattled off an 11-2 run to make it 44-29 with less than 11 minutes to go in the game.

Redlands slightly closed the gap at 11 points when Rios hit one of her two three-pointers, but the Tigers outscored the Bulldogs 17-3 in the final seven minutes to run away with the victory.

Rios and freshman forward/guard Madison Sanders-Curry (San Jose, CA) led the Maroon and Gray with nine points apiece. Sanders-Curry also added three blocks and four rebounds.

For her contributions, Carroll landed on the All-Classic team as the only representative from Redlands.

The Bulldogs (2-3) wrap up their five-game road stint with an important showdown against regional rival Chapman University on Saturday at 5 p.m.