The University of Redlands women's basketball team took to the road to open Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play against Occidental College on Saturday afternoon. Through 15 lead-changes and 11 ties, the Bulldogs came up just short in a double-overtime loss to the Tigers by a score of 69-71.

Occidental got off to a hot start and quickly put the Bulldogs in a 0-7 hole just four minutes into the contest. At the 7:21-minute mark, sophomore guard Cassandra Lacey (Victorville, CA) hit a jumper to put points on the board for Redlands. Lacey tossed in one more jumper, while senior forward Allison Siksnus (Placentia, CA) provided six points to finish the first quarter in a 10-15 deficit.

The Bulldogs entered the second quarter firing all cylinders, as senior guard Courtney Chen (La Canada, CA) opened the period with a huge trey-ball to move Redlands to within one basket. With 7:49 remaining, senior guard Joy Adlao (Hacienda Heights, CA) snagged a defensive rebound and headed to the Bulldogs' offensive end. Adlao found sophomore guard Lindsay Kilgore (Mira Loma, CA) for a three-point shot that put the Bulldogs within one at 16-17. Occidental then went on a 5-0 run, forcing the Bulldogs to play catch-up once again.

Just two minutes later, Lacey snagged her own offensive rebound and dished it out to the perimeter to find senior guard Caitlyn Dixon (Seattle, WA) for the trey-ball that made it a 21-23 ball game. In the minutes following, senior forward Reyna Ta'amu (Lakewood, CA) sunk two free-throws to give the Bulldogs their first lead of the night. Dixon and Lacey combined for another four points for a four-point advantage at 28-24 with three minutes left until halftime. However, the Tigers added five more points to quickly retake the lead at 29-28, as the teams entered the break.

After Ta'amu started the third by sinking two from the charity stripe, first-year guard Alyssa Lee (Monterey Park, CA) hit a bucket from downtown to keep Redlands in the hunt. But Occidental subsequently went on an offensive spurt until Kilgore sunk two, late free throws to close the gap to 38-44.

After first-year forward Camille Mosely (Riverside, CA) opened the fourth quarter with a jumper, she swiped a steal that led to an Adlao trey-ball to pull within one 43-44. At the 5:47-mark, Lee made her second three-pointer of the night, which led to a costly turnover by Occidental that Dixon turned into points with a trey-ball to tie it up at 51-51.

Redlands pulled away with a four-point lead with just 1:50 left to go but Occidental also converted those points to tie the game at 57-apiece, sending it to overtime.

Senior forward Angela Silver (Scotts Valley, CA) swiped a steal that led to another Lee three-pointer to open the first overtime period. First-year forward Kellis Dack (Vancouver, WA) took advantage of an Occidental turnover by knocking down a lay-up of her own. The teams continued to battle, and as the clock wound down to zero, both teams were stuck in a 64-64 stalemate.

Play continued to be completely even as Dack and Lacey hit crafty lay-ups for a one-point Redlands advantage at 68-67 with 2:49 left in the second overtime.

A. Silver sunk a free-throw with 15 seconds left to tie it back up at 69. Unfortunately for the visiting team, Occidental hit a buzzer-beater lay-up to send the Bulldogs home with a tough 69-71 loss.

Ta'amu ended the game with a double-double with 12 points and an impressive 13 rebounds.

The Bulldogs look to return to the win column when they travel to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on Wednesday, December 6, for a 7 p.m. SCIAC match.