The University of Redlands women's basketball team took a rare, mid-season break from Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) competition while hosting the University of St. Katherine in Wednesday's contest. After racing out to a 23-7 lead through the first quarter, the Bulldogs never looked back en route to the dominating 64-26 win.
After St. Katherine scored the opening bucket, the Maroon and Gray went to work in the paint, as sophomore guard Cassandra Lacey (Victorville, CA) and senior forward Reyna Ta'amu (Lakewood, CA) tossed in lay-ups off the glass to quickly make it 10-4 at the 5:25-mark of the opening quarter.
Senior forward Megan Fortenberry (Riverside, CA) entered the game an immediately made her presence known by scoring the Bulldogs' next four points. Senior forward Angela Silver (Scotts Valley, CA) added to the home team's offensive firepower with a five-point spurt of her own, as she converted buckets off of assists from first-year forward Kellis Dack (Vancouver, WA) and senior guard Caitlyn Dixon (Seattle, WA). Following a pair of Lacey free-throws, first-year forward Camille Mosley (Riverside, CA) chipped in a bucket off of Dack's assist with 21 seconds to go. By the end of the first quarter, Redlands held a solid 23-7 lead.
From here, the Bulldogs simply cruised to victory while holding the Firebirds to seven or fewer points in each of the subsequent quarters.
Redlands' 21-point showing in the third quarter came off of a balanced effort by the original starters, with Dack leading the charge with six points and eight rebounds. First-year guard Alexandria Iannone (Fullerton, CA) came off the bench to provide a three-pointer with 30 seconds left in the period for the home team's 54-21advantage.
First-year guard Alyssa Lee's (Monterey Park, CA) pair of trey-balls highlighted the Bulldogs' final 10 minutes of the game, as Iannone dished out an assist on the first one.
Overall, Lacey paced the offense with 14 points on 6-for-7 shooting. Dack nabbed a career-high 14 rebounds to go along with eight points and four assists. Mosley impressed off the bench with a nine-point, six-rebound performance in only 12 minutes. Fortenberry snagged four steals, scored eight points, and pulled in eight rebounds.
Redlands (9-8, 4-4 SCIAC) welcomes the Tigers of Occidental College to Currier Gym for Family Fun Day on Saturday, January 20. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m.