The University of Redlands women's basketball team took down the Lions of Piedmont College (GA), 54-43, in Currier Gym on Monday night. The victory marks the 200th victory at Redlands for 13th-year Head Coach, Rich Murphy. Murphy has never missed a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) postseason tournament and won the conference postseason tournament in 2009-10 to earn a trip to the NCAA Championship Tournament.
Following a slow start in the first period that put the Lions up 8-6, the Bulldogs began the second quarter on an 8-2 surge that pulled them ahead, 14-10. Despite Piedmont knotting the game at 16-all, sophomore guard Alyssa Downs (South San Francisco, CA) grabbed a defensive rebound and knocked down a transition triple to regain the lead at 19-16 midway through the second.
The Bulldogs continued to be aggressive by creating opportunities at the foul line and hit six consecutive free throws to gain a 25-20 lead with 1:43 left in the half. Senior guard Cassandra Lacey (Victorville, CA) knocked down a mid-range jumper with 22 seconds on the clock to help preserve a 27-22 lead at the break.
The Maroon and Gray came out of half time with high energy and scored the first four points in the opening minute to go up, 31-22. Following a jumper at the top of the key from sophomore forward Hannah Jerrier (Canton, MA), the Bulldogs continued to capitalize at the charity stripe with six free throws to help build up a 39-32 cushion heading into the final 10 minutes of action.
The bench provided a spark to start the fourth as first-year forward Julia Balesteri (Pleasanton, CA) blocked a shot and first-year guard Angelina Roque (San Diego, CA) scored the opening four points to gain a double-digit lead at 43-32 with 8:56 remaining in the game. Nearly midway through the fourth, Downs and Lacey connected on back-to-back buckets to extend their lead to 53-40 with just over a minute to go. Junior guard Kellis Dack (Vancouver, WA) iced the game with a free throw with 16 seconds remaining to earn the win and Murphy's 200th victory.
Dack put together a quality game with a near double-double of nine points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Lacey led the team in scoring with 10 points, while Jerrier came off the bench for seven points and 10 rebounds. As a team, the Bulldogs limited the Lions to just 23.1% from the field and forced 15 turnovers.
Redlands (6-3) continues onto its third of a four-game home stretch against conference foe, Occidental College on Wednesday, December 18, at 2 p.m.