With junior guard Cassandra Lacey's (Victorville, CA) second-highest scoring output of her career, the University of Redlands women's basketball team downed the visiting Regals of Cal Lutheran University, 79-75, in an exciting Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) contest on Wednesday night inside Currier Gym.
With solid shooting, the Bulldogs maintained control of the game early in the first quarter. First-year guard Alyssa Downs (South San Francisco, CA) opened up the action with a jumper, as Lacey supplied an old-fashioned, three-point play to make it 5-2.
A couple of minutes later, Downs sank her first triple of the game, which sparked an 8-3 Bulldog run to put them up, 13-7, at the five-minute mark of the opening quarter. However, the Regals used the last few minutes of the period to close the gap to one, as the teams headed into the second quarter.
The Maroon and Gray's offense continued to roll, with first-year Chyanne Pagkalinawan (Torrance, CA) and sophomore guard Alyssa Lee (Monterey Park, CA) combining for the squad's first four points of the frame. In a two-minute span, sophomore forward Camille Mosley (Riverside, CA) worked the high post to score the next six points, including a difficult step-back jumper, to push the Redlands lead to 29-22 with 5:49 left in the half.
During the closing minutes of the stanza, CLU worked its way back into the game and took a 37-36 lead into halftime, despite Pagkalinawan's layup with 14 seconds remaining.
Lacey came out of the intermission in attack mode by scoring the first six points for Redlands' 42-37 advantage. After CLU cut it to two, Lacey knocked down another mid-range jumper before assisting Lee on a transition three-pointer that pushed the lead back to 49-42.
A few possessions later, the Bulldogs continued to make stops, which led to their largest lead of the game at 50-42 after sophomore guard Kellis Dack's (Vancouver, CA) free-throw at the 4:43-mark.
Once again, over the next few minutes, Cal Lutheran crept back into the game and eventually took a 56-55 lead with a minute remaining in the third.
Nonetheless, Redlands went back in front within the first minute of the fourth quarter, but the lead switched hands multiple times in the ensuing possessions.
With 5:45 remaining in regulation, the Regals held a five-point lead, which was their largest of the game. But the Maroon and Gray orchestrated a 6-0 run that featured four consecutive points from Mosley and put the home team up, 65-64, with 4:21 to go.
After CLU answered on the ensuing possession, Lacey diced her way to the hoop for her second and-one of the game to make it a 68-66 game. Although the Regals tied the game once more, Lacey's jumper in transition gave Redlands a sustainable lead. Once Downs sank a big-time trey-ball, CLU was forced to play the foul game during the final minute of action. Redlands knocked down four free throws in the final 24 seconds to notch a 79-75 victory.
In addition to Lacey's electric 27 points, she added six rebounds and two assists while going 9-for-11 from the charity stripe. With tonight's 16-point performance, Downs has scored at least one three-pointer in 10 consecutive games and owns made bucket from deep in 15 of the team's 16 games this season. Mosley impressed with a double-double on 12 points and 10 rebounds while also adding two blocks.
Redlands (5-11, 2-5 SCIAC) enjoys a week off from competition before heading to Occidental College on Wednesday, January 16, for a 7 p.m. tip-off.