The University of Redlands women's basketball team began a seven-game road stretch with Wednesday night's game against the Poets of Whittier College. Although the Bulldogs battled throughout the contest, a tough shooting night led to their 44-58 loss in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) action.
Sophomore guard Kellis Dack (Vancouver, WA) and junior guard Cassandra Lacey (Victorville, CA) pushed Redlands to a 5-3 lead early on. The Poets answered with a stretch that put them up 14-8, but the Bulldogs knocked down three free throws in the final minute of the quarter to trim the deficit to three points.
To open the second, sophomore guard Claire Olmstead's (Sherman, TX) layup closed the gap to just one point. The Poets attempted to distance themselves again, but the Maroon and Gray tied the score at 18 on a layup from first-year guard Alyssa Downs (South San Francisco, CA) nearly midway through the stanza.
However, the Bulldogs ran into a dry spell over the next couple of minutes, which allowed Whittier to gain a 26-20 advantage.
After the Poets missed a free throw, sophomore guard Alyssa Lee (Monterey Park, CA) corralled the rebound and pushed it forward to Downs, who sank her first deep ball of the game. Downs then closed the gap further with success at the charity stripe to put Redlands within striking distance at 24-26.
Once again, the Poets created separation early in the third quarter, but Lacey responded for the Bulldogs by knocking down two layups to make it 26-28. When Whittier began to gain traction again with a six-point lead, Lee drained a trey out of a timeout to bring the Bulldogs back within three points at 31-34.
Unfortunately, Redlands hit another cold streak that led to a 32-43 hole late in the frame. Downs finally connected on a shot with 11 seconds remaining in the third to send the Bulldogs into the final period down, 34-45.
The Maroon and Gray came out of the gates fast in the fourth quarter with buckets from three different players to make it a seven-point game with 6:30 to go. During this spurt, sophomore forward Camille Mosley (Riverside, CA) hauled in one of her six offensive rebounds and converted it into two points for the Bulldogs.
Nonetheless, the Poets answered on the defensive end and ran away with a 58-42 lead. Despite another second-chance layup by Mosley, the Bulldogs came up short in the tough road loss.
Downs finished the game with 15 points and four rebounds. Mosley dominated the paint with a career-high 15 rebounds to go along with four points, one steal, and two blocks. Lacey turned in another all-around game with nine points, four rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
As a team, the Bulldogs turned the Poets over 15 times, leading to 12 points off for the Maroon and Gray.
Redlands (2-5, 0-3 SCIAC) continues its seven-game road stretch on Saturday, December 8, by taking on Chapman University in Orange at 2 p.m.