The University of Redlands women's basketball team returned to action on Tuesday in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) showdown against Occidental College in Eagle Rock. Despite jumping out to a 13-2 lead to start the contest, the Bulldogs struggled through a foul-infested fourth quarter that sent the Tigers to the line 22 times for more than the difference in a 49-58 loss.
During the first quarter, Redlands roared out to a hot start off of a balanced attack that included six points from senior forward Brinsley Farry (Ventura, CA).
However, Occidental quickly answered with a scoring spurt that tied it up at 13 with 6:18 left in the second quarter.
A back-and-forth battle ensued, with neither team stretching the lead to more than three points through the end of the third quarter.
With the score tied at 31, the Tigers converted three early free-throws, before sinking a pair of three-pointers for a 40-35 advantage.
Junior guard Jade Cheldelin's (Portland, OR) jumper and sophomore guard Courtney Chen's two free-throws bookended a five-point spurt by the Tigers, before Farry hit a critical jumper to cut the Bulldogs' deficit to four points with 2:07 remaining.
Despite two nothing-but-net trey-balls from sophomore guard Caitlyn Dixon (Seattle, WA) in a 14-second stretch late in the fourth frame, Occidental took care of business at the charity stripe to stay ahead and hand Redlands a nine-point loss.
Overall, neither team shot particularly well, as both field-goal percentages hovered around 30%. Redlands won the rebounding battle by a 51-40 margin. Occidental hit 19 of its 25 free-throw chances, as compared to the Bulldogs' 9-for-13 showing.
Farry led the Maroon and Gray with 14 points on 7-for-13 shooting. She also pulled in eight rebounds. Sophomore forward Reyna Ta'amu (Lakewood, CA) backed her with 11 points and a team-high 12 rebounds, including five on offensive end. Chen served as the primary facilitator by dishing out nine of the team's 12 assists, to go along with seven points and seven boards.
Redlands (8-12, 5-6 SCIAC) currently sits in fourth place in the SCIAC standings, just a half-game ahead of Pomona-Pitzer Colleges. The Bulldogs return home to Currier Gym on Thursday, February 11, for Faculty Appreciation Night against the Caltech Beavers. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.