As the No. 4 seed, the University of Redlands women's basketball team looks forward to competing in its 11th-straight Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Postseason Tournament when it heads to top-seeded Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on Thursday, February 22. This will be the Bulldogs' fifth-consecutive meeting with the Athenas in the semifinal game of the tournament. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. in Roberts Pavilion.
The Athenas emerged victorious in the teams' first meeting of the season back on December 6. Amidst an incredibly tight contest that included 10 lead changes and 12 ties, the Bulldogs saw a four-point advantage slip away in the waning minutes en route to a difficult 55-58 loss in Roberts Pavilion. Although the Bulldogs came up short, senior forward Allison Siksnus (Placentia, CA) put together a career night by knocking down 21 points.
A month and a half later, the teams squared off for the second time this season in Currier Gym. Despite earning a slight, first-quarter lead, the Bulldogs struggled to maintain that momentum due to a difficult shooting night, which resulted in a 45-58 loss to the Athenas.
Under Head Coach Rich Murphy, the Bulldogs have never missed a SCIAC Postseason Tournament, earning a spot every year since the event's inception in 2007-08. Redlands last won the tournament championship in 2009-10 and advanced to the finals again in 2011-12.
The Bulldogs own a 14-11 overall mark that includes a 9-7 conference record. This year, senior forward Reyna Ta'amu (Lakewood, CA) ranks third in the SCIAC with a team-best 15.4 points per game, which allowed her to eclipse the 1,000-point mark as the ninth Bulldog to accomplish this feat. She also sits second in the SCIAC in field-goal percentage at 54.7%. In addition, senior guard Caitlyn Dixon (Seattle, WA) holds the top spot in the conference with a three-point shooting percentage of 43.7%. Furthermore, sophomore guard Cassandra Lacey (Victorville, CA) boasts a scoring average of 12.1 points and a team-best 3.1 assists per game.
CMS heads to the 2018 SCIAC Postseason Tournament after earning a win in all but one of its last 20 games. The Athenas boast a 22-3 overall record and a 15-1 mark in SCIAC, which resulted in a share of the conference championship with Chapman University. Kailee Severt leads CMS with 13.2 points to go along with 4.6 rebounds per game, while Maya Love offers an average of 13 points and 10.9 rebounds.
In the second semifinal, the No. 2 Chapman University Panthers play host to the No. 3 Cal Lutheran University Regals on Thursday, February 22, in the Hutton Sports Center. Earlier this season, Chapman emerged victorious in both contests against the Regals by scores of 68-56 and 65-61.
The winner of Redlands-CMS will take on the winner of Chapman-Cal Lutheran in the SCIAC Postseason Tournament final on Saturday, February 24. This game will take place at the highest remaining seed.
Live stats and streaming will be available for all tournament games through the SCIAC Portal.
Ticket prices for admission to SCIAC Postseason Tournament matches are set by the conference and are as follows:
Spectators w/ current SCIAC ID (Students, Faculty, Staff) – Free
Children 12 and under – Free
General Admission - $10
Senior (55 and older) & Veteran - $5
For more information, please visit SCIAC Women's Basketball Postseason Tournament Central.