Despite outscoring the Amherst College (MA) Mammoths in the second half, the University of Redlands women's basketball team's comeback fell short against the non-conference foe in a 49-57 loss on Monday night in Orange.
After both teams struggled to get a bucket to fall in the first quarter, first-year guard Chyanne Pagkalinawan (Torrance, CA) scored the game's first points on a layup nearly three minutes in. Although the Mammoths took a brief lead, sophomore forward Camille Mosley (Riverside, CA) stepped back for a jumper to tie the game at 6-all.
However, Amherst began to gain momentum when it countered first-year guard Alyssa Downs' (South San Francisco, CA) three-pointer with a 7-2 run to carry a 17-11 lead into the second quarter.
Unfortunately for the Maroon and Gray, the Mammoths stayed hot well into the second and built their largest lead of the day at 17 points by the 2:29 mark. Junior guard Cassandra Lacey (Victorville, CA) broke up the run with a pair of free throws before Pagkalinawan's layup cut the Bulldogs' deficit to 23-36. With two seconds remaining in the half, Lacey converted a pair of free throws to close the gap to 11 points at 25-36 heading into the break.
Redlands nearly made it a single-digit game when Pagkalinawan knocked down an early free throw in the third quarter, but the Mammoths answered with solid shooting to extend their lead to 16 points with 6:32 remaining. Late in the frame, Redlands moved within striking distance at 38-48 off of key buckets from Lacey, sophomore guard Alyssa Lee (Monterey Park, CA), Downs, and Pagkalinawan.
After the Bulldogs started the fourth down 12, sophomore guard Kellis Dack (Vancouver, WA) hit a jumper to make it an eight-point game at 44-52 with 3:58 left. The Maroon and Gray continued to push down the stretch, with Downs hitting a three-pointer with 24 seconds remaining. But the Mammoths stymied the Bulldogs' efforts and handed them a 49-57 loss.
Downs led the Bulldogs with 15 points to go along with two rebounds and two assists, while Lacey scored 10 points and provided five assists. Pagkalinawan joined those two in double figures with 10 points in just her third collegiate showing.
Redlands (3-10, 0-4 SCIAC) returns home for the first time in a month to face Caltech in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) action on Wednesday, January 2, at 4 p.m.